Duluth Bargaining (Page 5)

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First there was the crowd.  Then there were the signs.  Then there were the red uniforms that adorned every man, woman, and child in the auditorium.  The scene was set for a champion sports team to walk in the room, but this huge crowd was there to see the contract negotiators.  When they entered the room, more than 225 nurses and their families cheered and applauded to show solidarity with their elected bargaining team at the Essentia-St. Mary’s contract talks and bid good morning to management’s team.  In the end, nurses won an agreement with management they could say is the result of  hard work by the negotiating team, but also because nurses showed Essentia that nurses are united and strong.
… Read more about: Crowd of Nurses Support Essentia Bargaining Team; Tentative Agreement Won in 33 Hr. Marathon  »

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St. Luke’s nurses approved a new contract they won after coming to a one-day, wage-only focused negotiations showing they were ready to bargain together after three years of strong member engagement.   The strength of the nurses was apparent even at breakfast.

A hearty “Good morning!” was echoed more than 150 times as Duluth nurses turned out in force in the early morning to welcome St. Luke’s Hospital negotiators to the bargaining table.  They saw nurses from St. Luke’s and from competitor Essentia St. Mary’s as well as their friends, families, fellow union members, and even kids in an impressive display of red filling the hotel hallways. 
… Read more about: Show of Strength in Duluth Wins Nurses New Contract  »

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In: Bargaining, Duluth Bargaining, Healthcare, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nursing, Patient Safety, Unsafe Staffing

NOTES ON NURSING
Tentative Agreement for St. Lukes Nurses in Duluth   The Minnesota Nurses Association announced late Tuesday that Duluth nurses came to a tentative contract agreement with St. Luke’s hospital that would raise wages 4.5 percent. The three-year agreement would go into effect in July and run into June 2016.  View pictures of the great solidarity action  and a video of MNA’s powerful opening statement

Alarm Fatigue Puts Patients at Risk    The Joint Commission issued a “sentinel event alert” to hospitals, saying that the problem of “alarm fatigue” can jeopardize patients, and it urged hospitals “to take a focused look at this serious patient safety issue.’”  Watch MNA President Linda Hamilton’s interview on Fox 9 News.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, April 10, 2013: Tentative agreement for Duluth RNs; Alarm fatigue puts patients at risk  »

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Incredible show of solidarity as 150 nurses, family members, and fellow union members greet the St. Luke’s bargaining team prior to negotiations. Then, an emotional message from about the importance to respect nurses by offering them a fair offer for their continued hard work under short-staffed situations.
… Read more about: Support and solidarity for Duluth nurses prior to contract talks  »

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Today was our seventh bargaining session with management of SMDC.

We  were able to share specifics with how safe staffing affects us and our patients. Management responded in full to all of our proposals other than economic. Their answer to pretty much everything we proposed was “No” or “We are not interested.”

Duluth RNs: Now is our time to get the same staffing language Twin City nurses have that helps them directly to advocate best for  patients.

One of our proposals would require management to pay for 15-minute breaks when we are unable to take them. If no nurse took 15-minute breaks that we are supposed to get, it would save the hospital $3,259,815 – the equivalent of 43 FTE’s.
… Read more about: Duluth Bargaining – SMDC Update (July 27)  »

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Today was our seventh bargaining meeting with management of St. Luke’s hospital. In our meeting today it was made totally clear and the statement was made from management, “The buck stops here.” It stops with management. They did not want to give the rights in our contract that the board of nursing says we already have. We need the ability to say no to an unsafe assignment and if there are no nurses to take an admission safely, for the right in our contract to temporarily close the unit to admissions. We made it clear to management of our needs in our contract for safe patient care.
… Read more about: Duluth Bargaining Update – St. Luke’s (July 21)  »

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Today was our sixth negotiation session with management of SMDC.

It was our first day with a federal mediator. Management did not say that staffing is a problem at SMDC. We told two very heartfelt staffing stories and there was no acknowledgement of the severity of the problem this creates for us as nurses and our patients. We asked what we could do to convince management that staffing is a problem. We were told that staffing is not a problem.

“I won’t say there is a problem or there isn’t a problem.” Mary Beth Olson said in response to our staffing discussion.
… Read more about: Duluth Bargaining – SMDC (July 21 Update)  »

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Today we had our sixth bargaining session with management of St. Luke’s hospital.

“The St. Luke’s bargaining committee refined the staffing plan in order for the contract to be settled. We have solidified the direction we need to go. Management’s response fell short of our safe staffing needs, because it did not allow for RN’s to say ‘No’ to an unsafe assignment.” – Mary Koski “Meech” RN

Cindy Prout, RN, states, “Yesterday we had a great, successful picket at SMDC as Duluth Nurses United. Our favorite chant of the day was ‘1, 2, 3, 4, We don’t like your grid no more!
… Read more about: Duluth – St. Luke’s Bargaining Update (July 13)  »