For Immediate Release
Contact: Rick Fuentes
(c) 612-741-0662
rick.fuentes@mnnurses.org
(Duluth, MN) – September 25, 2019 – St. Luke’s nurses have overwhelmingly voted to ratify the tentative agreement reached between the hospital and the Minnesota Nurses Association. The vote sets in place a new three-year contract for St. Luke’s nurses, which will be considered effective as of July 1, 2019.
“Nurses stood up and fought for solutions to the staffing crisis,” said Pete Boyechko, a St. Luke’s nurse and negotiations team member. “We’re proud that the hospital will have to address short staffing situations, and we hope more nurses will be hired so we can safely care for our patients.”
Nurses and the hospital agreed to add contract terms that provide bonuses for nurses called in when the number of patients or the severity of the patients’ conditions are greater than can be safely handled by the nurses on staff.
St. Luke’s nurses will also see their pay scales match those of the Essentia nurses in Duluth by 2020, which will allow the hospital to recruit and retain nurses for the future. MNA nurses will see pay increases of 3%, 3.8%, and 2.25% for each year of the three-year contract, respectively.
Nurses had delivered a strike notice to St. Luke’s Hospital for October 3, but the agreement and ratification vote resulted in the notice being rescinded.
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