MNA Blog (Page 126)

Recent news and updates from the Minnesota Nurses Association.

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In: Bargaining

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: John Nemo, MNA, 651-414-2863 or john.nemo@mnnurses.org

Twin Cities hospital patients and nurses will be holding a press conference at 1:00 pm on Tuesday, June 8, to explain in detail just how dangerously understaffed area hospitals are and how patients and nurses are suffering as a result.

“The staffing issue is the reason 12,000 Twin Cities nurses have been forced to conduct a one-day strike for patient safety this Thursday,” said Cindy Olson, a Twin Cities RN and member of the MNA negotiating team. “And we don’t think the general public truly understands just how unsafe things are inside our hospitals, and that it’s getting worse.”

Twin Cities nurses file an average of 1,200 “unsafe staffing” forms each year detailing the types of incidents outlined below.
… Read more about: Minnesota Nurses Press Release on Unsafe Staffing  »

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No Sunday Work!

Thanks to all of the amazing nurses, spouses, friends, children and pets who showed up at MNA offices over the past two days to help make picket signs. Because of the great turnout, we are done with our picket signs, so will not be working on them on Sunday.

If you haven’t already, make sure to sign up for a shift – talk to your Reps or Chairs for sign up sheets!

See you all on the picket lines on Thursday!
… Read more about: No Sunday Work at MNA  »

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NURSES: Please e-mail me ASAP at john.nemo@mnnurses.org with your short-staffing horror stories. I’ll need your name, phone and where you work so I can verify things. See below for an example of how to send these to me. We want to start educating the general public about just how dangerously understaffed we are and how our patients suffer as a result. We need real stories from real RNs to drive this point home!

Here’s an example of what to e-mail me: On a recent shift one of my patients had to sit in her own feces for 30 minutes because we were so short-staffed.
… Read more about: Needed: Your short-staffing horror stories  »

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In: Bargaining

Union brothers and sisters, please get ready to strike.

For two long days we, your elected bargaining teams, showed up to bargain a fair and just contract, and we are sorry to report that the employer has refused to bargain in good faith. They said that not one word, comma, letter, or sentence was acceptable in our proposals. They said unless you agree to their concessions there will be no bargaining.

These are employers who collectively made over $750 million in profits last year, where the CEOs pay increases were over 20%, and where new costly construction is prevalent everywhere.
… Read more about: June 4 Bargaining Update  »

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In: Duluth Bargaining

Today in our third bargaining session we greeted management with twice as many nurses as last week! Management’s reaction was to not show up on time. We had to bring our welcoming committee of nearly fifty nurses as well as family and community support to them! Our unity is showing and we need to keep it up for safe staffing and the best patient care.

Thoughts from Cindy Prout RN, MNA Chair, Saint Luke’s Hospital:

Management came in late and on the defensive and criticized our characterization of their proposals’ last week when I said they wanted nurses to be more flexible to fix their problems.
… Read more about: Duluth Bargaining Update (June 3)  »