The union representing 1,300 nurses in Duluth warned hospitals that a strike was “imminent” after it said talks brokered by a federal mediator had broken down.
In a video message posted on the Minnesota Nurses Association website, the union’s bargaining team said the hospitals — St. Luke’s Hospital and St. Mary’s Medical Center — are sticking to their last contract offer.
The nurses’ contract expired July 1. The hospitals offered a 3 percent pay raise over three years and to boost its subsidy of monthly health insurance premiums to 85 percent from 70 percent for dependent coverage.
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But like the Twin Cities nurses, the Duluth nurses are demanding that the hospitals focus on patient safety. The main sticking point seems to be a matter of language. The union wants to close a hospital unit “for a period of time” to new patients if staffing levels aren’t adequate. The hospitals prefer to say unit traffic is “redirected or temporarily delayed.”
Last week, 90 percent of the nurses voted to reject the hospitals’ offer and authorized the union to conduct a one day strike.
