May 25 All-Nurse Update (Page 134)

Dear Twin Cities Nurses,

Tomorrow the Star Tribune is putting out a story about the internal letter Allina CEO Ken Paulus sent earlier this week saying he is so concerned/upset/worried about negotiations that he is going to suspend his salary until a resolution is reached between the Twin Cities hospitals and nurses. (A nice gesture, but what does this actually have to do with resolving any of the real issues involved in these negotiations?)

At the same time, just this afternoon Allina’s lead negotiator called MNA to say that Allina is interested in returning to the bargaining table only if MNA modifies our proposals. This makes no sense, given the fact that Twin Cities nurses resoundingly rejected the Hospitals’ contract and pension offers, and one would think the next logical step in resuming negotiations would be to talk about those rejected contracts, and perhaps the Hospitals would even come forward with a modified version of these contracts to discuss.

In addition, the Twin Cities Hospitals (including Allina) never addressed a single MNA proposal during six-plus weeks of bargaining, so how exactly is MNA supposed to modify proposals that the Hospitals never addressed in the first place?

This is just the latest example of how disingenuous the Twin Cities hospitals are being with their nurses, the general public and the media. They continue to say one thing publicly (we want to reach a resolution, we want to avoid a strike, etc.) yet in reality they are doing the complete opposite, as evidenced by today’s shenanigans from their negotiating team.

There is no way to get around this fact – the Twin Cities Hospitals seem set on forcing our nurses out on strike. Why else would only one of the six systems contact MNA since the May 19 vote? And why would that one system (Allina) propose such an outrageous and ridiculous scenario, asking MNA nurses to modify proposals Allina never responded to in the first place, and altogether avoid any discussion or revisiting of the Allina contract offer that 90-plus percent of its nurses rejected?

It is our hope that everyone can see through the double-talk the Twin Cities hospitals continue to employ.

In the meantime, the MNA negotiating teams met on Sunday, May 23rd to talk about our next steps moving forward. We are eager to return to the bargaining table after soundly rejecting the employers’ offer.

In the absence of a response from management, we continue our plans for the One-Day, Unfair Labor Practice Strike. We will give a 10-day notice to our employers before the actual walkout. There will be All Nurse Meetings next week in every hospital to discuss our plans moving forward.

Stay tuned for more information.

Dear Twin Cities Nurses,

Tomorrow the Star Tribune is putting out a story about the internal letter Allina CEO Ken Paulus sent earlier this week saying he is so concerned/upset/worried about negotiations that he is going to suspend his salary until a resolution is reached between the Twin Cities hospitals and nurses. (A nice gesture, but what does this actually have to do with resolving any of the real issues involved in these negotiations?)

At the same time, just this afternoon Allina’s lead negotiator called MNA to say that Allina is interested in returning to the bargaining table only if MNA modifies our proposals.
… Read more about: May 25 All-Nurse Update  »

Twin Cities hospitals came out with a press release today bashing Twin Cities nurses and making disingenuous statements and untrue allegations. Below is the official response from one our MNA leaders. We’re not sure all of the statement below will be used in media coverage, but this is our full and official response:

“The Twin Cities hospitals continue to be completely disingenuous with their public message,” said Susan Mason, lead negotiator for the Minnesota Nurses Association. “Their public rhetoric literally does not match up with reality. For example, since we gave our emphatic answer on May 19th with a near unanimous rejection of their contract offers, only one of the six hospital systems has contacted the Minnesota Nurses Association with a request to return to the bargaining table.
… Read more about: MNA Response to TC Hospitals’ May 24 Allegations  »

Have a story you want to share? Contact MNA’s John Nemo for details.

Our 6-year-old daughter has been admitted to Children’s three times for pneumonia and asthma-related bouts.  Her first stay at Children’s Hospital was when she was 2.  Most recently, last fall, Sarah was in the ICU, and we were as frightened as ever that we would lose her. The nurses were unfailingly attentive to her, and to us.  They kept us informed, giving us updates, helping us interpret stats, answering questions, and referring us to the right people when they themselves didn’t have the answers.  
… Read more about: From a grateful mom: Thank You, Nurses  »

Guest Blog Post by Mary Kohout, RN, Fairview Southdale Hospital

I worked this past weekend in the ICU. There were many frustrations and concerns to be had by all the staff. On Friday afternoon from 3-7, we were two nurses short.  This was completly unacceptable.  We had no resourse nurse and only one flying squad nurse.  Our charge nurse had to be off the floor to respond to two RRTs b/c our flying squad was tied up with other patients.  During this time, we had obtained an unstable artic sun, heart patient, and an unstable surgical patient.  We only had one aide, who was not on the floor b/c she had to go and get blood for all these patients.  
… Read more about: Unsafe Staffing Levels – The Latest Example  »

From his commentary on the National Institute of Health Policy Blog:

NURSES MAY GO ON STRIKE IN MPLS – ST. PAUL
Have you ever heard of doctors threatening to go on strike if their income and hourly work demands aren’t met by their employers? I haven’t. However, doctors, unlike nurses, are able to increase their income by prescribing more medical services or creating shortages in their specialties or just lobbying for increases in pay for specific procedures. Doctors will refuse to see Medicaid patients to put pressure on state legislators; or refuse to see Medicare patients to pressure Congress.
… Read more about: Former MN Sen. Dave Durenberger Weighs in  »