Just this week MNA received what we believe is proof that the Twin Cities Hospitals have indeed signed an illegal collusion agreement. What we believe this means is that the six hospital systems, all of whom are competing with each other for business, likely didn’t trust one another enough to let everyone bargain individually and come to a separate agreement with MNA. So we are alleging that they created and signed a multi-employer agreement that binds the employers together in negotiations and any potential settlement with the MNA. And the reason this is significant is two-fold: First is that months ago, before bargaining even began, MNA asked if the Hospitals wanted to do an “all for one” type labor contract and have all six systems bargain together at one table. The Hospitals said NO to this request, and that they wanted to bargain individually because they said “the contracts were just too different.” (In reality the six “different” labor contract offers the hospitals ended up putting across the table were almost EXACTLY THE SAME.) Second, this type of arrangement makes it very unclear who MNA is bargaining with and who has the power to settle this contract.
You can VIEW THIS PDF for a complete explanation, including the initial story about MNA’s charges, the Hospitals’ uniform response in which they all but admitted the documents do exist but that they won’t turn them over, and finally MNA’s most recent letter back to the hospitals. This was filed back in mid-May as an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Again, this is just the latest example of the Twin Cities Hospitals lying to their nurses and the general public.