Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

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

(Duluth, MN) – July 10, 2025 – On the third day of an ongoing Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike by nurses and healthcare workers at Essentia Health, Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) officially joined the walkout, escalating pressure on Essentia to stop violating federal labor law and begin bargaining in good faith. Picket lines expanded across Duluth and Superior, with a new line established in Virginia, Minnesota, as APPs took their place alongside striking clinic workers. 

Despite a clear ruling from the National Labor Relations Board that Essentia should begin bargaining with the APPs’ union, Essentia has continued to defy that order—refusing to meet, refusing to negotiate, and continuing to make unilateral changes to working conditions without bargaining. 
... Read more about: APPs join Essentia ULP strike as community support grows and pressure mounts on employer to bargain  »

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.
... Read more about: Essentia nurses and healthcare workers turned away from bargaining by employer on second day of ULP strike, acute care nurses announce tentative agreement vote results  »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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   »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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  »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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  »

(St. Paul, MN) – July 3, 2025 – After nearly four months of contentious bargaining with hospital executives while continuing to provide high-quality care and escalating pressure at the bedsides, nurses with the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) in the Twin Cities Metro region have reached a tentative agreement with their hospital employers, have resolved the Unfair Labor Practices (ULP) as part of the settlement, and successfully avoided a ULP strike. 

In a moment when unions across the country are under attack and organizing is being met with hostility from corporate and political leaders alike, MNA nurses stood strong. They boldly organized in defense of their contract, their profession, and their patients—fighting off a litany of concessions even under immense pressure. 
... Read more about: BREAKING: Twin Cities nurses avert strike, reach deal; Duluth prepares for action    »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

(Duluth, MN) — July 1, 2025 — In a move hospice nurses are calling “cruel and unnecessary,” Essentia Health has informed staff that it will suspend patient care at Solvay Hospice House beginning July 8, the same day an open-ended unfair labor practice (ULP) strike is set to begin across Duluth hospitals. The Minnesota Nurses Association has proposed seven bargaining dates in the week before the strike, but Essentia Health has not accepted a single date for Solvay Hospice House or its hospitals and clinics.

Solvay healthcare workers say these transfers are not being driven by a shortage of caregivers, but by Essentia’s refusal to engage in good faith bargaining with frontline healthcare workers at Solvay and across Duluth facilities.
... Read more about: Essentia Health is putting Duluth Hospice Patients in Jeopardy, Healthcare Workers Speak Out  »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

(Duluth, MN) – June 30, 2025 – For the first time in MNA history, Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) have announced an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike. Today, over 400 APPs at 69 facilities in Essentia Health’s East Market delivered formal notice of a ULP strike set to begin July 10. The APPs include nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurse midwives, and clinical nurse specialists. The APPs are represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association, but Essentia has refused to recognize their union for nearly a year, instead responding with unlawful retaliation, intimidation, and sweeping changes to assignments—all violations of federal labor law.
... Read more about: 400 Advanced Practice Providers at Essentia Health announce first-ever APP ULP strike  »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

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

(St. Paul) – June 27, 2025 –Nurses and other healthcare workers at multiple Duluth and Superior healthcare facilities will be the first to begin a ULP Strike to demand their hospitals engage in Fair Negotiations, stop committing unfair labor practices, and to work with nurses to advocate for patients.

Hospital acute care nurses at Essentia Health’s St. Mary’s Duluth Hospital, Miller-Dwan Hospital and St. Mary’s- Superior Hospital, and Aspirus Health St. Luke’s Hospital will be beginning their ULP Strike to demand their hospitals engage in Fair Negotiations, stop committing unfair labor practices, and to work with nurses to advocate for patients on Tuesday, July 8 at 7:00 a.m.
... Read more about: BREAKING: Nurses announce ULP strike to demand fair bargaining so nurses can protect patient care and stand for safe staffing  »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

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  »