Duluth Bargaining (Page 6)

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A Special THANK YOU to the elected officials, patients, general public and brother and sister union members who showed up July 12th to support Duluth Nurses on the picket line!

ELECTED OFFICIALS
Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher
Duluth Mayor Don Ness
Duluth City Council Member Patrick Boyle
Duluth City Council Member Sharla Gardner
Duluth City Council Member Kerry Gauthier
Representative Mary Murphy
Office of Senator Al Franken
Office of Congressman Jim Oberstar

UNIONS
AFSCME
APWU
Carpenters
Duluth Central Labor Body
IBEW
IUPAT
IUOE
Massachusetts Nurses Association
MN AFL-CIO
NALC Branch 114
NE Area Labor Council
Workers United
USW
… Read more about: Thank you!  »

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: John Nemo, MNA, 651-414-2863 or e-mail

DULUTH, Minn. (July 6, 2010) – More than 1,300 Duluth Nurses will conduct informational picketing from 12:00-5:00 p.m. on July 12th outside SMDC Medical Center to call attention to unsafe staffing levels.

“Here at St. Mary’s and Miller Dwan (SMDC), we currently have more than 800 open nursing shifts over a four-week period from mid-June to mid-July,” said Steve Strand, RN. “The hospital is literally begging nurses to work double shifts and overtime to try and fill all these gaps.
… Read more about: Duluth Nurses to Conduct Info Picketing July 12  »

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Today was our fifth negotiation meeting with management of SMDC. Our current contract expires at midnight. Management continued with their theme of NO!

Three main things happened today:
1.No progress, measured by…
2.No responses to our staffing proposal
3.No economic proposal. (Note: The MNA economic proposal includes fair wage increases, fair pension contributions and health insurance.)

“I am sad and depressed that such a beautiful Duluth day was wasted in negotiations as no forward progress was made today.  Management has been absolutely non-responsive and it appears they are stalling to see what happens in the Metro Area.  At out last meeting we informed Management that today we would have the Economic Proposal as our primary topic.  
… Read more about: Duluth Bargaining – SMDC Update (June 30)  »

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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  »