FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sam Fettig
(c) 612-741-0662
sam.fettig@mnnurses.org
Lauren Nielsen
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.nielsen@mnnurses.org
Hospital executives threaten to lockout, fire nurses fighting to put patients before profits
Today, 15,000 nurses in the Twin Cities, Twin Ports, and Moose Lake announced their intent to strike on September 12 in their fight for fair contracts that put Patients Before Profits. In response, hospital executives have made a desperate attempt to further attack the collective bargaining rights of Minnesota nurses, demanding an additional step that has not been previously requested or required to attempt to prevent nurses from striking for better patient care and working conditions.
After MNA filed its required notices, hospital executives are now demanding nurses file an additional 30-day notice with the state Bureau of Mediation Services (BMS), despite the fact that BMS does not have jurisdiction over private sector employers. This is why hospital management has never previously questioned MNA work stoppages using this manufactured barrier, including the three-day strike at Allina’s WestHealth facility in 2021, the 2016 strikes by MNA nurses at Allina Health facilities, or the 2010 strike by Twin Cities MNA nurses.
The following is a statement from the MNA Nurse Negotiating Teams:
“It is clear that hospital executives are feeling the power of 15,000 nurses fighting for our patients and our profession. We will not be intimidated by their attempts to silence or scare us, and we intend to proceed with a strike to win fair contracts to put patients before profits.
“Hospital executives have already driven nurses away from the bedside by their refusal to solve the crises of staffing and retention in our hospitals, and we hope they will not be so brash as to fire nurses for standing up to demand better.
“If hospital executives want to avoid a strike on September 12, they should spend less time and money on lawyers and more time working with nurses to settle fair contracts to improve patient care and working conditions in our hospitals.”
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Thank you for the quick response! While we are aware that out employers have not taken our concerns seriously, we will stay within our rights, and continue the work to defend the heath and safety of our patients and ourselves. I anticipate hearing more at the informational sessions.
Thank you!
Let them fire their entire staff, who cares, nurses shouldn’t, just go elsewhere and work, no problem. Let’s see the despicable hospital ceo’s, hr people etc find another job quicker than a qualified nurse. Fat chance of that happening. I say strike strike strike until these useless administrators squel like pigs and then for good measure go and picket at their houses and neighborhoods. God bless your efforts, I’m retired now but still support this movement of nurses who are standing up for what’s right.
Sincerely
The old Northwoods RN
Now’s the time to strike! Is Bernie Sanders available?
I left working the ER after 34 years due to the treatment received from management and lack of support. I stand behind the nurses forced to strike!
I support all of you. I admire all of you. Keep up your good, just, angry fight because you have what is real and true and loving on your side. You will never, like they, turn and twist in a miserable sleep at night because you jeopardized lives of real people. So very proud of you and your immense power. Keep it rocking. Love, Mary Ann
My surgery has already been postponed from Southdale Hospital due to the upcoming strike. I have lived in pain for several years and already had it delayed due to covid. Negotiate how you want but for certain your actions are negatively affecting me as a patient. Hope you get you 13% increase and choke on it. Just be honest – Pay increase before patients . You are not patients before profits .
One Iowa nurse stands with you! Thank you so much for doing the right thing.
Our hospital executives continue to increase our nurse to patient ratios, requiring a nurse to take on 6-7 post-surgical patients. One RN can literally end up taking care of 12-13 patients in a shift depending on how many discharges they have.
I am the mother of an amazing young nurse who gives her all and MORE, every single shift; patient care and safety above her own health at times. Last night there was an armed gunman LOOSE at Riverside and security couldn’t find him. Shelter In Place for a “security event” announcement was made, Masonic Childrens is connected so they also went into Shelter In Place. She and her team demanded the door to their unit be locked since the armed man was roaming and couldn’t be found. They were told the only people who could lock those doors were security and they were unavailable at the time! THEY DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH SECURITY TO LOCK THE MAIN DOORS TO THE UNIT-THERE WERE CHILDREN IN THAT WAITING AREA!!! She and her team kept her patients and their loved ones calm, safe and cared for, all the while praying the gunman wouldn’t storm their unit firing his weapon. It is clear that the executive’s of these medical systems do not care one bit for their staff and patients. They have been begging for security and panic buttons in the negotiations and…..crickets, or worse yet, “It’s too expensive.” That says all I need to know. This gunman running loose in a hospital and they cannot at the very least LOCK A DOOR, to keep patients and staff safe? Sometimes saying/doing nothing says EVERYTHING!
I have had it as a patient receiving horrible treatment in the past three years in multiple medical settings. In fact, every single time I have needed to go to the clinic, I would say both myself and family members have actually been harmed by the treatment plan or lack of treatment. All of them documented and each time a NURSE has stepped in to fight for the right to better care. Ihave had it with the people in power NOT showing their staff the respect and protection they more than deserve; and I have had it being worried about my adult child and her partner’s safety in their workplace that offers NO SECURITY DETAIL in their hospital, when random acts of violence clearly happen on the daily.
When is enough enough? When do the people in charge say, “We stand with our staff and treat them as the family that they are. They are over worked, and understaffed and not safe, yet they show up every.single.day.” When, I ask, does the tide turn and we care more about the health and safety of our staff and patients, than we do about profit? The way the system is run now, will only end with people getting hurt or worse, dying. It is time to do the right thing. One should not risk being attacked in our workplace, or where we come for help when we are at our most vulnerable.
When is enough, enough?
Yes, if the nurses strike, it will hurt patients. But even more, it will hurt the hospitals. I’m on the side of nurses.
As an RN and prior union organizer & contract negotiator I wish I lived closer so I could join you in the line. Please continue to educate newer & younger nurses and HCWs about the power of solidarity.
This ploy by the hospital is absurd and laughable. You have the power.
Show how these hospitals will spend millions of dollars to union bust- they will allocate millions of dollars to bring in replacement nurses- nurses who do not understand or grasp that they are also being used as tools to degrade our profession and destroy the power of United workers.
So, do the hospitals think it is unsafe for the nurses to strike, or do they think the public should not be worried because they have agency nurses coming in? I don’t see how it can be both ways.
The nurses are the heart of the hospital. Doctors spend just a few minutes—literally— at the bedside. As a patient, I’ve seen how hard the nurses work. They have to carry around a phone and are constantly interrupted, even when at my bedside taking care of my medical needs. If I’m having a complication, it’s the nurse who has to identify it. Come on hospitals! Take care of your nurses so they can take care of us. We aren’t patients we’re PAYING CUSTOMERS.