By Emily Sippola, RN
United Hospital Tri-Chair
MNA Member, United Hospital Tri-Chair
Months after the 2016 Allina strike, MNA nurses at United Hospital were surprised to find that the employer had unilaterally decide to change the calculation for our sick leave incentive bonus, which rewards nurses for not using sick time.
In May 2017, Allina decided to not count the hours United Hospital nurses were on strike toward “Regularly Scheduled Hours” and provided our sick time incentive bonus based on a lower number of hours nurses worked.
Nurses quickly filed a grievance based on the fact that the contract provides for upgrading Regularly Scheduled Hours based on additional hours worked but does not provide for downgrading based on hours on strike.
The grievance went to arbitration and was ruled in our favor. The employer will now be required to pay the appropriate incentives based on regularly scheduled hours.
This is a great victory for MNA nurses and vindication for nurses who stood strong during the strike in 2016.