FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Nurses Fearful Patients Unable to Receive Care

(St. Paul) – June 3, 2021 – Nurse members of the Minnesota Nurses Association have filed a ten-day notice to picket outside Children’s Hospitals Minneapolis and Saint Paul campuses to fight for enough staffing and enough beds for pediatric patients.

MNA nurses have been meeting with Children’s management over several months since the corporation launched a downsizing of its Saint Paul hospital and a redesign for the Minneapolis campus.
... Read more about: Pediatric Nurses Will Picket Children’s Hospitals  »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Contact: Rick Fuentes
(o) 651-414-2863
(c) 612-741-0662
rick.fuentes@mnnurses.org

Amber Smigiel
(o) 651-414-2849
(c) 651-202-0845
amber.smigiel@mnnurses.org

Emergency COVID-19 Leave Bill Caught in Limbo in Legislature

(St. Paul) – May 27, 2021 – Essential workers feel left behind despite their hard work and sacrifice during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they’re demanding progress on the emergency leave bill they were promised.

Despite Emergency Leave (link) passing the Minnesota House, the legislation has stalled in the Senate.  Essential workers were told there were both state and federal dollars to help them recapture the lost time and wages they missed while being forced to quarantine or await test results.
... Read more about: Essential workers to lawmakers: ‘Don’t forget us’  »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Patients Losing Nurse Staffing to Cuts

(St. Paul) – May 10, 2021 – Nurse members of the Minnesota Nurses Association have filed a formal notice of their intent to hold an Informational Picket outside M Health Fairview’s Southdale Hospital campus on Wednesday, May 12.

MNA nurses are opposing M Health’s plan to cut staffing for patients in vitally important care departments. While nurses have tried to engage in discussions with hospital management on solutions, Southdale staffing plans show managers intend to cut anyway, including reducing Medical/Surgical department staffing.
... Read more about: Nurses Will Picket M Health Southdale Hospital Over Staffing  »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Lauren Nielsen
(o) 651-414-2862
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.nielsen@mnnurses.org

(St. Paul) – May 3, 2021 – Nurse and healthcare worker members of the Minnesota Nurses Association have filed a petition with Essentia Health to notify them they are concerned the company’s takeover of Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) hospitals will result in less access to patient care, not more.

In January, Essentia Health and Common Spirit, CHI’s parent company, signed a letter of agreement where Essentia would assume control of 14 facilities and numerous clinics throughout Minnesota and North Dakota.
... Read more about: MNA Members File Petition Over Essentia-CHI Takeover  »

The Minnesota Nurses Association represents 22,000 Registered Nurses from diverse backgrounds, including those from Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and North Dakota. We are Midwesterners, immigrants, native-born Americans, and Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color and veterans of our armed forces. MNA embraces and supports all of our members.

The staging of the Minnesota National Guard at the St. Paul Labor Center occurred without the approval or discussion amongst the unions that own the building regarding the Guard’s request to utilize the building. MNA, like many unions, has a position against the militarization of police and the use of military force against protestors.  The property itself is owned by a group of Minnesota unions, including MNA.
... Read more about: Statement on actions of 4.15.21 at St. Paul Labor Center  »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Contact: Rick Fuentes
(o) 651-414-2863
(c) 612-741-0662
rick.fuentes@mnnurses.org

Amber Smigiel
(o) 651-414-2849
(c) 651-202-0845
amber.smigiel@mnnurses.org

April 13, 2021 (St. Paul) –

“On April 11, 2021, while running an errand, 20-year old Daunte Wright was killed by an officer of the Brooklyn Center Police Department. The Twin Cities have lost another young Black man, a two-year-old son has lost his father, and a mother and her family are grieving the loss of another innocent life. MNA joins the world in mourning and grieving another life lost to police brutality, and we extend our condolences to the family of Daunte Wright.
... Read more about: MNA Nurses Statement on the Death of Daunte Wright  »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Contact: Rick Fuentes
(o) 651-414-2863
(c) 612-741-0662
rick.fuentes@mnnurses.org

Amber Smigiel
(o) 651-414-2849
(c) 651-202-0845
amber.smigiel@mnnurses.org

February 10, 2021 (St. Paul) – Minnesota Nurses Association President Mary C. Turner has been selected to serve on the national Biden-Harris COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force. Turner is the only Registered Nurse to serve on this advisory board to advise the White House on how to ensure all Americans have access to COVID-19 resources. She was personally selected by President Joe Biden.

“I’m both honored and humbled to serve the country,” Turner said.
... Read more about: MNA President Turner Proud to Support Nurses on Biden-Harris COVID-19 Task Force  »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Contact: Rick Fuentes
(o) 651-414-2863
(c) 612-741-0662
rick.fuentes@mnnurses.org

Amber Smigiel
(o) 651-414-2849
(c) 651-202-0845
amber.smigiel@mnnurses.org

February 9, 2021 (St. Paul) –

“Minnesota Nurses are again shocked and saddened by the news of another incident of workplace violence at a healthcare facility in the state. As caretakers of victims of gunshots and other violent injuries, nurses and healthcare workers are acutely aware that violence could easily come to the doors of their workplace too. Seeing other workers become victims shakes any hospital worker to their core.
... Read more about: MNA Nurses Statement on Workplace Violence at Buffalo Clinic  »

Amber Smigiel
(o) 651-414-2849
(c) 651-202-0845
amber.smigiel@mnnurses.org
​ (St. Paul) – February 4, 2021 – Nurse members of the Minnesota Nurses Association have alerted Allina Health of the intent to hold an informational picket in Faribault near District One Hospital on Friday, February 12.

MNA nurses have been negotiating a new contract with Allina for months, but productive talks have deteriorated over safety and staffing issues. While Allina has agreed to match wages with a nearby hospital, management has refused to improve staffing measures, add health and safety protections, or match compensation for calling nurses in during short-staffing crises. 
... Read more about: MNA Nurses File Notice to Picket Allina District One Hospital  »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Contact: Rick Fuentes
(o) 651-414-2863
(c) 612-741-0662
rick.fuentes@mnnurses.org

Amber Smigiel
(o) 651-414-2849
(c) 651-202-0845
amber.smigiel@mnnurses.org

January 26, 2021 (St. Paul) – Minnesota nurses explained to legislators that, like other essential workers, they’ve lost thousands of dollars in pay and benefits due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and they’re asking lawmakers to support HF41, the Essential Workers Emergency Leave Act, which will make it right.

Many essential workers, including nurses, were either exempted from receiving federal COVID leave covered by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) or their employers were not subject to FFCRA due to their size.
... Read more about: MNA Nurses Testify in Support of Essential Workers Emergency Leave Act  »