TOMORROW: MNA nurses to announce next step in fight to win fair contracts that put Patients Before Profits 

MEDIA ADVISORY

Contact: Sam Fettig
(c) 612-741-0662
sam.fettig@mnnurses.org
Lauren Nielsen
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.nielsen@mnnurses.org

15,000 Twin Cities and Twin Ports nurses have been back at work for two months since historic three-day strike

Hospital executives continue to commit unfair labor practices and refuse solutions to address care and working conditions at the bargaining table  

(St. Paul) – November 16, 2022 – Tomorrow, Thursday, November 17, 2022, at 10:00 a.m., nurses with the Minnesota Nurses Association will announce plans for the next step in their fight to win fair contracts to put patients before profits. The announcement comes as 15,000 nurses in the Twin Cities and Twin Ports have been back at work for two months since a historic three-day unfair labor practice strike in September. While nurses have made every effort to negotiate in good faith and win fair contracts at the negotiating table, hospital executives continue to commit unfair labor practices and refuse solutions to solve the crisis of care and working conditions in our hospitals.

Hospital CEOs continue to take multi-million-dollar salaries while failing to solve the retention crisis pushing nurses out of the profession, negatively impacting care for Minnesota patients. There is no shortage of nurses in Minnesota, but deteriorating care and working conditions are driving more nurses to leave the bedside. While adverse events increase for patients and conditions deteriorate in Minnesota hospitals on the watch of hospital CEOs, more than half of all nurses are considering leaving the bedside in the next year.

While nurses continue to bargain in good faith, hospital executives continue to commit regular unfair labor practices, including colluding to keep wages down for nurses, direct dealing with nurse union members, and refusing to provide information necessary for the bargaining process. These unfair labor practices violate labor law and erode trust between nurses and their employers.

Since negotiations began in March, nurses have pressed hospital executives both at the bargaining table and in public over the need to negotiate with nurses to solve the crises of short-staffing, retention and care in our hospitals. Along with their historic three-day strike in September, nurses launched an advertising campaign exposing the effects of corporate healthcare policies in Minnesota hospitals, announced that nurses had voted “No Confidence” in hospital executives, and confronted hospital board members over the failure of our CEOs to solve the problems in our hospitals.

TOMORROW: Minnesota Nurses Association Press Conference

  • When: Thursday, November 17, 2022, 10:00 a.m.
  • Where: Minnesota Nurses Association, 345 Randolph Ave, Suite 200, St. Paul, MN 55102
  • Who: Nurses with the Minnesota Nurses Association
  • What: Announce next step in fight to win fair contracts
  • Why: To put patients before profits and solve the crisis of hospital care and working conditions
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