Nurses

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In: Advanced Practice Providers, Bargaining, Duluth, Duluth Bargaining, Essentia, Healthcare, Home, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Press Releases

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Contact: Shannon Cunningham
651-269-1418
Shannon.Cunningham@mnnurses.org

Lauren Bloomquist
651-376-9709
Lauren.Bloomquist@mnnurses.org

(Duluth, MN) – July 8, 2025 – Nurses and healthcare workers at multiple Duluth and Superior healthcare facilities began their Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike against Essentia Health today, with picket lines spread across the region. Despite their hospital nurse counterparts settling a tentative agreement with Essentia on July 4, Essentia refused to meet with the now striking workers at any of the additional seven bargaining dates provided by MNA prior to the ULP strike.
… Read more about: After successful first day on ULP strike, nurses and healthcare workers renew call for Essentia to negotiate in good faith and settle ULPs   »

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In: Advanced Practice Providers, Bargaining, Duluth, Duluth Bargaining, Essentia, Healthcare, Home, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing, Press Releases, ULP Strike

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Contact: Shannon Cunningham
651-269-1418
Shannon.Cunningham@mnnurses.org

 

(Duluth, MN) – July 4, 2025 – This morning, after countless hours at the bargaining table, Essentia Twin Ports acute care hospital nurses reached a tentative agreement with their employer. As part of the settlement, Essentia has resolved its Unfair Labor Practices with the nurses, averting a strike. Nurses will vote whether to ratify the agreement in the coming weeks.

Nurses achieved updates to staffing language, including a one-year freeze on reductions to current staffing ratios. Nurses also fought off Essentia’s Management Rights clause, protected Labor Management Committee language, and achieved a wage increase of 9.75% spread over the three years of the contract.
… Read more about: BREAKING: Essentia Twin Ports hospital nurses avert strike, reach deal; Clinic nurses and APPs continue toward ULP strike  »

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In: Advanced Practice Providers, Bargaining, Duluth, Duluth Bargaining, Essentia, Healthcare, Home, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing, Press Releases, St. Lukes, ULP Strike, Uncategorized

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Contact: Shannon Cunningham
651-269-1418
Shannon.Cunningham@mnnurses.org

 

(Duluth, MN) – July 3, 2025 – Today, after months of contentious bargaining with hospital executives, nurses with the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) at Aspirus St. Luke’s hospital have pulled their 10-day strike notice and cancelled their Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) Strike. Nurses negotiated for more than 30 straight hours leading to a pending tentative agreement, with minor details left to finalize early next week.

Nurses have agreed to cancel their ULP strike after significant movement was made across the bargaining table.
… Read more about: BREAKING: Aspirus St. Luke’s hospital nurses pull ULP strike notice with pending deal; Essentia nurses and APPs prepare for action  »

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In: Healthcare, Home, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurse Staffing, Nurses, Patient Safety, Press Releases, Public Health, Readmissions, Standards of Care, Unsafe Staffing

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Contact: Shannon Cunningham
651-269-1418
Shannon.Cunningham@mnnurses.org 

 

St. Paul, MN (June 25, 2025) — The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has just released its 2024 Adverse Health Events Report, showing the ninth straight year of increases in preventable patient harm across Minnesota hospitals and surgery centers. Nurses across Minnesota say this report is not just a statistic, it’s a wake-up call. 

In 2024 alone, there were 624 adverse events, which includes preventable errors like patient falls, pressure ulcers, wrong-site procedures, and communication breakdowns. These incidents are not just mistakes.
… Read more about: Unsafe staffing is hurting patients: New state report confirms what nurses have warned for years  »

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In: Advanced Practice Providers, Bargaining, Duluth, Duluth Bargaining, Essentia, Home, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Shannon Cunningham
651-269-1418
Shannon.Cunningham@mnnurses.org

 

(Duluth, Minn) – June 25, 2025 – Essentia nurses with the Minnesota Nurses Association met with Essentia today for the final scheduled negotiation date prior to contract expiration on June 30, 2025. This comes on the heels of 15,000 nurses and Advanced Practice Providers in the Twin Cities metro and Twin Ports voting on Monday to authorize their negotiating teams to call an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike if necessary. Since April, Essentia nurses have been bargaining in good faith and advocating for safe staffing, fair compensation, and safer workplaces through their contract proposals.
… Read more about: Essentia nurses provide bargaining update as negotiations continue  »

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In: Bargaining, Healthcare, Home, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Metro Bargaining, Nurses, Nursing, Press Releases

Minnesota nurses voted overwhelmingly on Monday to authorize an Unfair Labor Practice strike.

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Contact: Shannon Cunningham
(651) 269-1418
Shannon.Cunningham@mnnurses.org

(St. Paul, MN) – June 24, 2025 – More than 15,000 nurses from 13 hospitals across the Twin Cities and Duluth voted overwhelmingly to authorize an Unfair Labor Practice strike on Monday. The votes follow over three months of negotiations in which hospital executives failed to bargain in good faith and meaningfully engage in an effort to find common solutions around enforceable measures to protect patient safety and improve nurse staffing levels.
… Read more about: Thousands of Minnesota nurses protest Unfair Labor Practices committed by hospital employers, including failure to bargain in good faith over safe staffing  »

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In: Advanced Practice Providers, Bargaining, Duluth, Duluth Bargaining, Essentia, Healthcare, Home, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Press Releases, St. Lukes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Contact: Shannon Cunningham
(651) 269-1418
Shannon.Cunningham@mnnurses.org

Duluth, Minn – June 24, 2025 – Multiple groups of nurses, healthcare workers and Advanced Practice Providers at Essentia Health and Aspirus-St. Luke’s voted on Monday to authorize Unfair Labor Practice strikes at their facilities.  The votes follow months of negotiations in which the hospital corporation executives failed to bargain in good faith and failed to  meaningfully engage in an effort to find common solutions around enforceable measures to protect patient safety and improve nurse staffing levels, and in some cases refused to negotiate at all. 
… Read more about: Duluth Nurses and Advanced Practice Providers Vote to Authorize ULP Strikes Over Employer’s Refusal to Bargain in Good Faith and Other ULPs  »

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In: Bargaining, Duluth, Duluth Bargaining, Home, Hospitals, Nurses, Press Releases, St. Lukes, Uncategorized

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Contact: Shannon Cunningham
651-269-1418
Shannon.Cunningham@mnnurses.org

 

(Duluth, MN) – June 18, 2025 – In the final scheduled bargaining session before their contract expires, nurses at Aspirus St. Luke’s were met not with compromise, but with cuts. Instead of working toward solutions, hospital executives introduced an economic proposal loaded with rollbacks: limiting sick time, vacation, dental, and health coverage for two-thirds of acute care nurses. This also comes after weeks of Aspirus St. Luke’s criticizing nurses for failing to present their full economic proposal, despite not offering one of their own until now.
… Read more about: Aspirus Walks Away from Solutions, Pushes Concessions Instead of Care  »

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In: Bargaining, Home, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Press Releases

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Contact: Shannon Cunningham
(c) 651-269-1418
Shannon.Cunningham@mnnurses.org

 

(St. Paul) – June 4, 2025 – Thousands of nurses with the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) held an informational picket today at 11 Twin Cities hospitals and two Duluth hospitals to highlight issues at the core of their ongoing contract fight with hospital executives. Nurses across the state are in the midst of a staffing crisis and continue to cite staffing as their number one issue in bargaining. Having enough nurses per patient not only benefits patients, but it also reduces injury and violence on the job, keeps experienced nurses at the bedside, and saves healthcare systems desperately needed funds.
… Read more about: Nurses picket Twin Cities, Duluth hospitals as 15,000 seek new contracts that prioritize patient safety  »

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In: Healthcare, Member Blog, Nurses, Nursing

As part of our Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month celebration, we’re proud to spotlight the inspiring journey of Patrick Simon Soria and Nina Angelie Lio-Soria—two Filipino American nurses whose commitment to care, advocacy, and leadership exemplify the heart of the profession. Their story is not only about nursing—it’s about heritage, identity, and creating meaningful change in healthcare and beyond.

Q: Can you tell us a little about your journey to becoming a nurse?

Image of Patrick and Nina standing in front of a decorated Christmas Tree in Chicago, Illinois.Patrick: Becoming a nurse was never just a job—it was part of my family’s legacy. On my dad’s side, healthcare runs deep.
… Read more about: AANHPI Heritage Month Spotlight: Patrick & Nina’s Nursing Journey  »