Update from: Cyndi Prout, RN, Chair, MNA’s Saint Luke’s Hospital bargaining team.
We just had our second bargaining session and we greeted management with the largest welcoming committee of nurses they have ever seen.
We felt the energy of our sister and brother nurses from Saint Luke’s and SMDC today! It shows that we really are united. It was great to be there yesterday for SMDC and it felt great that they came out for us! Now is our time in Duluth for Nurses to take a stand for safe staffing and patient care.
Three main things happened today:
- We agreed on some non-controversial housekeeping issues because of the unity that we have all been able to show up to this point.
- We presented our staffing proposals which included concrete ratios for safe patient care, which research has proven saves lives. More info can be found on MNA’s Duluth bargaining page, which also includes temporary divert and temporary unit closure language if ratios are not met.
- The hospitals responded by saying, “We need you to be more flexible to take care of our problems.” (Ask your committee about what was said in the event of a snowstorm!)
Update from Mary Koski “Meech”, RN, Birthplace Center:
Their response to our staffing proposals shows a lack of urgency and seriousness regarding staffing issues. It is clear that we have to be united to get them to take us seriously!
In order to win a contract that ensures safe staffing, we need your help!
We need you at the Holiday Inn, 3rd floor lobby, on June 3rd at 0830 for the 3rd bargaining session to greet management in even greater numbers. We started strong and need to get stronger every time!
We need you at SMDC’s next bargaining session, June 10th on the 3rd floor of the Tech Center at 0830-0900 to greet management for their next bargaining session because we support one another. We are Duluth Nurses! We are united, and we came out in big numbers this morning for our negotiations today!
June 16th is the next all nurse meeting at the Labor Temple, 2002 London Road, below the Reef Bar at four different times – 0800, 1330, 1600 and 2000. Parking is available in back. This meeting is very important – we will have had three negotiation sessions and will have a very good idea which direction bargaining is headed. We have to plan our next steps. It will be exactly 14 days until our current contract expires!
Can we count on you to be there?