Locked in contentious contract talks, 14 hospitals in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and their 12,000 nurses are bracing for a strike that could start as soon as June 1. The nurses will vote May 19 whether to authorize a walkout. Nurses say the hospitals are using the weak economy as an excuse to cut pension benefits and change work rules in ways that will endanger patients. The hospitals, which are nonprofit, say that they're merely adapting to economic realities and that patients will be fine.
