Minnesota nurses, Duluth hospital reach contract agreement

The union representing 400 nurses in Duluth said Wednesday morning it has agreed to a tentative new contract with St. Luke’s Hospital, averting a one-day strike threatened by the union.

Details of the contract were not immediately released. Nurses will vote on the agreement on Sept. 8.

However, 1,000 nurses who work at St. Mary’s Medical Center are still without a contract and could still strike, said union spokesman John Nemo.

The Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) said in a blog post that it and the hospital managed to work out language concerning the temporary closing of a unit because of staffing shortage.

The union wants to close a hospital unit “for a period of time.” The hospitals prefer to say unit traffic is “redirected or temporarily delayed.”

The hospitals also had 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.

Last month, the nurses voted overwhelmingly to authorize a one day strike to protest its lack of a new contract since the old one expired July 1.