June 29 Bargaining Update (Page 124)

Statement from the Minnesota Nurses Association:
Despite MNA nurses significantly modifying their staffing and wage proposals, there was little progress made in today’s negotiations with the Twin Cities Hospitals. In regards to staffing, MNA removed several components of our proposal that the hospitals felt were too rigid, while at the same time maintaining a maximum patient assignment for each nurse based on the individual needs and acuity (how sick a particular patient is) of each patient assigned to a particular nurse.

MNA also lowered its wage proposal to 3 percent for each year of the contract, which is the same as the 3 percent raise Regions Hospital gave its nurses earlier this month. The employers responded with the same 0-1-2 wage proposals they have offered previously.

Many of the employers’ concessions and take backs remain on the table. During today’s session, the employers said their solution to the unsafe staffing issue – which Twin Cities nurses have been trying to address since the early 1990s – would be to create a MNA-Twin Cities Hospital “task force” to study the problem. This same “task force” concept was tried last year at the request of the legislature, failed miserably and was consequently disbanded.

Despite the hospitals’ claim in a press statement (that was released as bargaining was still going on) that the proposed decrease in pension contributions was off the table, the fact is that it is contingent on a number of things: MNA nurses must accept all the take backs and concessions the hospitals are proposing, none of which address patient safety or staffing issues. The MNA membership must approve a contract with these concessions. The nurses must pull their 10-day strike notice. Only if all those things happen will the employers make a “recommendation” to their pension bargaining team to keep the nurses’ pension as is.

The MNA bargaining teams felt that this proposal was unacceptable and rejected it but requested a return to the table on Wednesday. In fact, our nurses remain committed to meeting anytime, anywhere before July 6th in hopes we can reach a contract agreement and avoid a strike.

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In: Bargaining, Nurses Strike

Statement from the Minnesota Nurses Association:
Despite MNA nurses significantly modifying their staffing and wage proposals, there was little progress made in today’s negotiations with the Twin Cities Hospitals. In regards to staffing, MNA removed several components of our proposal that the hospitals felt were too rigid, while at the same time maintaining a maximum patient assignment for each nurse based on the individual needs and acuity (how sick a particular patient is) of each patient assigned to a particular nurse.

MNA also lowered its wage proposal to 3 percent for each year of the contract, which is the same as the 3 percent raise Regions Hospital gave its nurses earlier this month.
… Read more about: June 29 Bargaining Update  »

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In: Duluth Bargaining

Today was our fourth negotiation session with management of SMDC. After meeting for over a month, they finally responded to some of our proposals. In response to our proposal which gives nurses the ability to temporarily close a unit to admissions due to unsafe staffing situations the answer was loud and clear NO.

Jerry Zanko director of employee and labor relations at SMDC said “I have no interest in agreeing to language that isn’t worth the paper it is written on!”  Zanko’s response to whether or not they would have a counter proposal next week was ‘perhaps’.

Management proposed language that would have taken four long time nurses out of the contract.
… Read more about: June 24 Duluth Bargaining Update – SMDC  »

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JUNE 24, 2010 STATEMENT FROM THE MINNESOTA NURSES ASSOCIATION:
Our nurses spent more than 13 hours today doing our best to stay hopeful about negotiations. Unfortunately, zero progress was made. Despite today’s setback, our nurses offered to return to the bargaining table again on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and every other day until a contract agreement can be reached. Instead, the Twin Cities Hospitals responded that the earliest they could meet would be sometime next week.

It has become beyond obvious to our nurses that the Twin Cities Hospitals, despite what they continue to say publicly, have no interest in meaningful or good faith negotiations.
… Read more about: June 24, 2010 MNA Statement on Negotiations  »

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In: Bargaining, Nurses, Nurses Strike, Nursing

To Whom It May Concern:

I’m an acute care registered nurse at a St. Paul hospital and am
concerned (as are the majority of nurses) about the way nurses are being
portrayed in their quest for safe staffing. However, I also realize the
majority of the population doesn’t know exactly what a nurse does when
he/she is outside the patient room. The public hears us talk about needing
more time at the bedside, but doesn’t understand why they see nurses at
the desk so often. With this understanding, I set out to give a detailed
account of what nurses’ duties are outside the patient room.
… Read more about: 510 minutes: A MNA RN Explains a typical shift  »