FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Shannon Cunningham
(c) 651-269-1418
Shannon.Cunningham@mnnurses.org
(Duluth, MN) – July 9, 2025 – On the second day of the ongoing unfair labor practice strike in Duluth and Superior, nurses and healthcare professionals across all six Essentia Health bargaining units arrived at negotiations prepared to make progress — only to be met with rejection and dismissal. Essentia Health barred most teams from participating, sending them back to the picket lines, while agreeing to negotiate with only Superior and Third Street Clinic representatives. No meaningful negotiations took place and no progress was made towards resolving the unfair labor practices.
Despite Essentia Health’s reliance on costly travel nurses and its abrupt closure of essential facilities like the Solvay Hospice House, frontline healthcare workers have consistently proposed clear pathways to resolution. Today alone, negotiating team members offered to consolidate and expedite bargaining across all six contracts and offered 22 additional negotiation dates in July — both of which Essentia flatly refused.
In a move healthcare workers described as coercive and dismissive, Essentia’s contracted attorney informed remaining negotiating team members that a swift resolution was only possible if workers conceded to every one of Essentia’s demands. They did not take accountability for their role in committing numerous ULPs nor did they offer credible solutions to return workers to their patients.
Healthcare workers say Essentia’s actions undermine the spirit of fair labor negotiations and show a blatant disregard for patients, staff, and the community. The strike continues, and workers remain united in their call for dignity, transparency, and meaningful engagement at the bargaining table.
“It’s appalling and irresponsible for Essentia Health to continue to drag out negotiations while clinic nurses and healthcare workers remain on the picket lines. Their unwillingness to meet in good faith sends a clear message: they’re more interested in weakening our union than valuing the vital care we provide every day.” Said Dana Bukovich, an RN at Essentia’s Superior Clinic. “If Essentia truly recognized the impact clinic staff have on the health and wellbeing of our communities, they would be working urgently toward a fair resolution.”
The newly unionized healthcare workers from Essentia Health’s 1st Street, 2nd Street, 3rd Street, and Superior clinics — along with their colleagues at Miller Hill Ambulatory Surgery Center and Solvay Hospice House — will continue their strike and return to the picket lines beginning at 7:00 a.m. on Thursday.
Visit from Lt. Governor Flanagan on successful second day
Clinic nurses and healthcare workers labeled the second day of their ULP strike a success as they watched the momentum grow. Workers continued to show up at all four picket lines and were joined by patients, community members, and other labor partners. They were further bolstered by a visit by Lieutenant Governor and US Senate candidate Peggy Flanagan, who took time to acknowledge the heaviness of their decision by saying “In this moment that we find ourselves in, where the contrast between working people and corporate greed has never, ever, ever been clearer, I want you to know that you are doing the right thing right now.”
Flanagan also told healthcare workers that their proposals at the bargaining table were not unreasonable and shared that while “there are folks on the other side of the table that might tell you something different, but I am here to remind you that what you are asking for is completely justified. It’s about patient care. It’s about good outcomes. It’s about creating caring communities here in the city of Duluth and as a model for the rest of the state and country.”
Acute Care Nurses Ratification
After marathon bargaining sessions last week, acute care nurses at hospitals across the metro and Duluth came to tentative agreements which are voting over the next week. The first of those votes took place today for Essentia Health and Methodist hospital nurses. In both cases, nurses voted to ratify the tentative agreements reached last week.
What’s next
On Thursday, July 10th, the picket lines will grow in both numbers and locations as Advanced Practice Providers from Essentia’s East Market begin their own ULP strike. APPs will join the same lines as the workers in Duluth and Superior, plus will add an additional strike picket line outside Essentia Health in Virginia, Minnesota. Advanced Practice Providers won their union election in July 2024 and, despite the National Labor Relations Board telling Essentia to comply with the law and begin to bargain with the union, they continue to refuse. Essentia Health continues to follow the misguided counsel of their contract attorney—choosing that path over the guidance of the NLRB, established legal precedent, and the clear wishes of the community.
Advanced Practice Providers as well as nurses and healthcare workers who are already out on a ULP strike continue to emphasize their message to Essentia: Stop with the games. Stop breaking the law. Stop trying to break our union. It’s time to come to the bargaining table and bargain in good faith.