Duluth Bargaining (Page 5)

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I live and work in northern Minnesota, Duluth to be specific.   I can appreciate the occasional grand snow storm, one in which limited nurses and other staff is able to get to the hospital to work.  We call those days “snow days” and only the basics are truly expected to be done with the limited staff available.  The patients seem to recognize the hardship and in part take in the experience with understanding.

However… when the majority of shifts we work feels like a “snow day” and it has become more of the norm to run like crazy all shift and consistently not have enough staff to care for the patients, we are teetering on a disaster waiting to happen.  
… Read more about: My Story: Renee Ebel, RN  »

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Today was our fourth negotiation session with management of SMDC. After meeting for over a month, they finally responded to some of our proposals. In response to our proposal which gives nurses the ability to temporarily close a unit to admissions due to unsafe staffing situations the answer was loud and clear NO.

Jerry Zanko director of employee and labor relations at SMDC said “I have no interest in agreeing to language that isn’t worth the paper it is written on!”  Zanko’s response to whether or not they would have a counter proposal next week was ‘perhaps’.

Management proposed language that would have taken four long time nurses out of the contract.
… Read more about: June 24 Duluth Bargaining Update – SMDC  »

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From the St. Luke’s bargaining committee: In our fifth bargaining session with management of St. Luke’s hospital, we had a detailed discussion about the implementation of our nurse-to-patient ratios which research has proven to is better for patient outcomes. Management asked clarifying questions and listened to our explanations. Nothing has come back from management across the table regarding safe patient care.  We expect to make major progress in our next meeting and we continue to take steps towards this, yet are prepared to show how serious we are in our commitment for safe patient care.

From Kate Donovan RN 7W: “Today was our fifth bargaining session.
… Read more about: Duluth Bargaining Update (June 22)  »

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Today was our fourth bargaining meeting with St. Luke’s. Our contract proposal with concrete nurse to patient ratios will provide time for nurses to give our patients the safe care they deserve. St. Luke’s believes that the current grids which provide one RN for nine patients on most west side units on days and evenings is safe staffing. Nights are even worse on the west side, the ratio can be up to 1 RN to 13 patients. The current grid provides an average of 6.5 minutes of time per patient per hour, which does not include any charting, admissions, discharges and more.
… Read more about: June 16: Duluth Bargaining Update (St. Luke’s)  »

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Today’s message:

1.       The employer (SMDC) was not prepared to respond to our proposals, presented 2 weeks ago which include staffing.

2.       MNA told management that the number of open shifts on the new schedule was unconscionable for a facility of its size and as a trauma center.

3.       The employer data validates a significant decrease in the number of RN’s, the number of FTE’s and full time positions.

4.       MNA informed the employer they would request a meeting w/ JACHO w/ pending site visit over staffing and safety issues.
… Read more about: SMDC Duluth Bargaining Update (June 10)  »

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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)  »

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Update from: Cyndi Prout, RN, Chair, MNA’s Saint Luke’s Hospital bargaining team.

We just had our second bargaining session and we greeted management with the largest welcoming committee of nurses they have ever seen.

We felt the energy of our sister and brother nurses from Saint Luke’s and SMDC today! It shows that we really are united. It was great to be there yesterday for SMDC and it felt great that they came out for us! Now is our time in Duluth for Nurses to take a stand for safe staffing and patient care.
… Read more about: St. Luke’s Bargaining Update – Duluth (May 28)  »