Minnesota Nurses Union Urges Members to Reject Contract Offer

After months of bargaining with no agreement, the Minnesota Nurses Association has asked more than 900 members to turn out Wednesday to reject a contract offer from SMDC Medical Center in Duluth, and vote for a one-day walkout instead.

A key sticking point appears to be nurse staffing ratios.

"The bottom line is, the executives at the bargaining table have made it clear to us that management does not trust its nurses with the well-being and safety of our patients," said Steve Strand, an RN at SMDC. "It's ironic considering nurses are the most trusted professionals in the United States. And we are not asking for anything costly, outrageous or unusual."

Thomas Patnoe, MD, president of SMDC Health System, issued a brief statement in response to the MNA comments: "We feel we have bargained in good faith and have proposed a very good offer, which reflects our commitment to our nurses, to safe care and to the patients and families we serve. My sincere hope is that we will ultimately reach a respectful resolution and avoid a strike."

In addition to the SMDC vote, 420 RNs at St. Luke's Hospital in Duluth are bargaining for a new contract, but haven't reached an agreement. SMDC nurses have no more negotiating sessions scheduled, but St. Luke's RNs met with management Monday to try to work out an agreement.

Both groups of nurses will vote on Wednesday to either ratify their contract offers or authorize a one-day strike at each hospital.

MNA said Duluth RNs are seeking the same contractual rights to advocate for their patients that Twin Cities nurses already have: First, to be allowed to temporarily close a hospital unit when it is no longer safe to admit additional patients. Second, to be able to refuse additional patient assignments when a nurse's patient load has reached an unsafe level, MNA said in a media release.

"Business executives at SMDC are refusing to allow nurses to do our duty—as dictated by the Minnesota Board of Nursing and our profession itself—of advocating for our patients," Strand says. "What Duluth nurses are asking for is reasonable, and in our negotiations we attempted to bargain in good faith to implement some concessions that would allow the cost to be minimized for the changes necessary. Should nurses in the Northland be treated differently than our counterparts in the Twin Cities when it comes to safety issues? Should our patients, for that matter?"

Strand says SMDC nurses already dealing with staffing shortages need some kind of protection in their contract when it comes to caring and advocating for patients.

"As nurses, we live this every day," he says. "We know better than anyone when it is or isn't safe on our unit. As the people directly responsible for your well-being when you come into our hospital, we want to make sure you get the safest care possible. Doesn't that seem like a rational, reasonable thing to ask of the executives who employ us and expect us to guarantee your safety as our patients? Why can't they see that they will be patients too?"

St. Luke's RN Cindy Prout says executives there have left nurses with no option other than recommending the vote to authorize a one-day strike.

"If you listen to the stories coming out of the hospital, you know that we don't have any other choice," she said. "Our first contract is with the public—to care for them, keep them safe and advocate for them."