Dear Twin Cities Nurses,
Tomorrow the Star Tribune is putting out a story about the internal letter Allina CEO Ken Paulus sent earlier this week saying he is so concerned/upset/worried about negotiations that he is going to suspend his salary until a resolution is reached between the Twin Cities hospitals and nurses. (A nice gesture, but what does this actually have to do with resolving any of the real issues involved in these negotiations?)
At the same time, just this afternoon Allina’s lead negotiator called MNA to say that Allina is interested in returning to the bargaining table only if MNA modifies our proposals. This makes no sense, given the fact that Twin Cities nurses resoundingly rejected the Hospitals’ contract and pension offers, and one would think the next logical step in resuming negotiations would be to talk about those rejected contracts, and perhaps the Hospitals would even come forward with a modified version of these contracts to discuss.
In addition, the Twin Cities Hospitals (including Allina) never addressed a single MNA proposal during six-plus weeks of bargaining, so how exactly is MNA supposed to modify proposals that the Hospitals never addressed in the first place?
This is just the latest example of how disingenuous the Twin Cities hospitals are being with their nurses, the general public and the media. They continue to say one thing publicly (we want to reach a resolution, we want to avoid a strike, etc.) yet in reality they are doing the complete opposite, as evidenced by today’s shenanigans from their negotiating team.
There is no way to get around this fact – the Twin Cities Hospitals seem set on forcing our nurses out on strike. Why else would only one of the six systems contact MNA since the May 19 vote? And why would that one system (Allina) propose such an outrageous and ridiculous scenario, asking MNA nurses to modify proposals Allina never responded to in the first place, and altogether avoid any discussion or revisiting of the Allina contract offer that 90-plus percent of its nurses rejected?
It is our hope that everyone can see through the double-talk the Twin Cities hospitals continue to employ.
In the meantime, the MNA negotiating teams met on Sunday, May 23rd to talk about our next steps moving forward. We are eager to return to the bargaining table after soundly rejecting the employers’ offer.
In the absence of a response from management, we continue our plans for the One-Day, Unfair Labor Practice Strike. We will give a 10-day notice to our employers before the actual walkout. There will be All Nurse Meetings next week in every hospital to discuss our plans moving forward.
Stay tuned for more information.
Tags: 2010 Bargaining, Allina, Ken Paulus, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses Strike
Are we going to get a federal mediator?
Let’s let them pay us UNEMPLOYMENT, I would love ths summer off.
Meet with the hospitals already!
This is making nurses look ridiculous and greedy! The public is not on our side…and I’m tired of defending MNA’s propaganda!
Shelly – I completely understand your frustration, but assuming you are one of our Twin Cities nurses, know that your fellow nurse leaders on the bargaining team want to do that very thing! Our nurse leaders would love to sit down and meet with the hospitals, but as you can see in this Blog post the hospitals either do not want to talk (despite what they say publicly) or else don’t want to actually negotiate on the contract proposals that we rejected. We cannot negotiate with ourselves!
I agree with Shelly, nurses are getting frustrated by lack of movement by MNA. Dave has the right idea
Shelly I am not sure who in the public you are speaking with but I have yet to meet anyone who knows any facts that is not on the side of the nurses. I just got back from my sons hockey practice and people asked me “you are a nurse right” we shared stories and not a one person, many of whom I do not know very well were on the side of the hospitals.
So change a couple words, (1 becomes ONE, etc) adjust the pay increases down to their offer to make sure it’s a ULP, and sit down with them and a federal mediator…
F/U on my previous remark.
I absolutely believe we deserve a pay raise that is in line with cost of living/ inflation etc. And as the population gets sicker we deserve even more. However the hospitals are framing this as a pay issue, “greedy nurses” etc. and the best way to shove this back in their faces is to remove the pay issue altogether from this round of negotiations. We can address this issue in three years when the hospitals provide more evidence that THEY are all about GREED…
Absolutely sit down with them at least! That’s how negotiations work, isn’t it? And Connie, most of the people in the public I’ve talked to have asked, “How do nurses justify this?” I have no way to justify it if MNA won’t go back to the table. As far as the hospitals not responding, negotiations mean they give a little, you give a little. They’ve definitely changed theirs from the original that was sent around, but I haven’t seen MNA change their demands at all. And yes, I am a Twin Cities nurse.
I agree with Shelly. MNA: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, stop with the power games and get back to the negotiating table with Allina and keep staffing safe!
amen!
We need to stand together. The public is with us and understand. The hospitals want to break the unions period. As the rich get richer the middle class gets poorer. There will be no middle class. Why aren’t we entitled to a livable retirement when we retire. Do you want to be working at minimum wage jobs after you retire to make ends meet? The CEO’s won’t ever have to worry about that. They usually get a severance package with their ridiculous salaries. And health care for the rest of their lives.
We have to stay together and not lose what we have fought for. Look around and check out the Administrations salaries. Who really is the important workers? The companies are using the economy as a excuse to squeeze the workers and pay themselves great salaries for making cuts. Also patient safety is another major issue.
WE NEED TO STAND TOGETHER.
The union may not be perfect but we need to be represented and have a union fight for us. If we didn’t have a union we would have to take whatever the employer feels like offering us.
Did you know that the RN’s in the clinic that are not MNA are not guaranteed their contracted hours to work? If the doctor they work with has a day off the RN has the day off too…Unless the RN finds someone else that wants the day off that she can trade with. Just some of the things you need to think about when your thinking about not supporting the MNA contract.
Is this about money or safe staffing? Yes we are the worker but just as you choose to go to school for nursing and knew what salary was associated with it..in it for the patient not the money. The CEO’s went to school to do what they do at their pay…maybe you should have gone into business if you want 6 figures. go to the tables
Amy, don’t you think that there is a problem in fact that CEO’s have formed a business process that allows them to load their BOD’s with members that no longer have incentive or regulations to check decisions that allow them over inflate their value? This has led to the point that the pay ratio between upper management and the average workers are out of whack. This may not be completely accurate but off the top of my head, in the 60′s it was something like a 38:1 ratio CEO:Lowest Paid Employee and now it is 250:1. That may not in fact be the actual numbers nor reflect the health care industry but can’t be ignored.
By the way, I AM an Allina/MNA RN.
Agree with Margaret 100%
I worked for years for a non-union hospital and it was actually a lot less antagonistic. The “whatever the employer feels like offering” was good because they needed nurses to stay in business! Now it’s completely antagonistic between the employer and the nurses and I’m stuck with whatever the union offers. I have no more say than I did before!!
Seriously wake up hospitals. Now is the time, don’t back down. What is up though with just a one day strike. Sock it to em for more than one day and make them think about it!
I am not a nurse but an interest outside observer. Most business leaders have nothing but absolute disdain for unions. Why? It makes things complex and adds to their expenses which means they get a smaller bonus. For a union to work even when members don’t agree with their leaders it is imperative to stick together or all is lost. Read about the Major League Baseball Player union’s trials and tribulations. As a member of the general public and never a union member I whole completely support you. There are so many other ways to cut hospital costs but nurses and medical staff are a much simpler and easy short-term target. By staying together, this is a push back on administrators to work harder to reform some of the things that congress was trying to jump start recently. Good Luck!
The hospital employers are trying to create chaos and detract from the nurses rejection of their offer. We can’t give them that power. We are in uncharted territory here and we need to take a breath and move back into the present moment on this. In time, these employers will move from their position, but they will not do so if we go begging them to bargain with us. We (as the RN’s on the bargaining teams) spent nearly 2 months trying to plead with these employers to be reasonable. In some instances we could not even get them to show up for scheduled sessions, in large part to avoid showing their faces to the nurses. Since the vote last week they have been in hiding using their latest PR staff to plant disingenous, “evidence based” messages out in the public in an effort to diminish the power of 12,000 nurses standing together. Now they are claiming that they want to bargain, yet the have not attempted to arrange dates. They want to claim the ball is in our court but lets be realistic: we sent them a message with our strike vote, loud and clear. At this point they have chosen to ignore it. We have demonstrated tremendous restraint by not immediately filing a strike notice. We have made it clear from day one that we are interested in bargaining and reaching a fair agreement. The hospitals know this, but as in other times they are showing that they can’t handle the truth. Nurses, we are in the drivers seat here and we cannot allow the employers to ignore us anymore. We have spoken. Its time for them to start hearing us!
Nellie, if Allina said they want to renegotiate, and MNA hasn’t responded: “let’s go and do it” why the heck is it Allina’s job to set up any dates, etc. What a bunch of hooeey. All I see is greedy nurses getting all riled up by MNA. It’s their job you know.
We need to stand together. I agree with Margaret as well–this is a fight for safe staffing and for the middle class. We have an opportunity to preserve the profession of nursing and make a statement: we’re tired of seeing more and more MBA’s, etc., running healthcare and getting big salaries to do it! Healthcare professionals need to maintain as much control over our practice as we can, and set an example for others who need to get serious about unionizing: doctors, for example. Any salary or pension cuts that we take will go directly in the pockets of these managers and CEOs–they aren’t asking for these cuts because they need it for the patients.
Again, lets stay strong and resolute, and let the hospitals know that this union can not be busted.
Doctors don’t need to unionize. The hospitals will pay them what they demand because at the end of the day, they bring the business into the hospitals. They will always have the upper hand in that realtionship. Period
Concerned: While there are some over-paid specialists, GP’s, internists are losing more and more control over their own practice, and, I believe, are having to spend too much of their time catering to the whims of CEO’s/MBA’s when they ought to be spending that time and energy on their patients. We have a shortage of family practitioners in this country–they aren’t being paid enough when they come out of school to allow them to earn a living and pay off their tremendous school loans. Doctors and nurses should largely be the ones running healthcare.
I wish that the nurses who are feeling like MNA is stalled/not doing anything right now, would please seek out their bargaining team members for an explanation of this process; the ULP is being filed. Our MNA staff are on top of this and need our patience.
Well stated Nellie. Thank you.
Does anyone know Amy, Sally, Lisa and/or Dave? Me thinkBs I smell a rat!! We CANNOT go back to the table if no one is there. The hospitals do not want to negotiate, they want us to accept what they think we should get. I believe MNA is doing the best they can, and if you don’t understand, get more involved. Become a unit rep for starters. Learn the real scoop!
Lets add Kassie to your list. She obviously has the real inside scoop on the ULP and is seeking legal advice for us.
I’m an RN at North. I’m behind MNA 100%. My point is that it’s better to loose a battle and win the war than it is to loose both… If the hospitals successfully frame these negotiations as being about MONEY, they will win the battle for public opinion… AND they may win the ability to hire permanent replacements… By keeping the focus on safe staffing, and UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES we win.
Do NOT go crawling on our bellies to TCH! I am astonished that anyone would even suggest it. When they want to negotiate as responsible partners, MNA will be there. Until then, one day, 10 days, 100 days, I am willing to strike for as long as it takes.
NOT ALL PEOPLE CAN AFFORD TO STRIKE FOR 1, 10 OR 100 DAYS! IT IS NOT WORTH LOSING YOUR HOME OVER! STOP THIS INSANITY NOW!
Write your employer and speak this emphatically and passionately to them. The nurses that make up MNA are not your enemy the employer is! Please go talk with one of your MNA reps or negotiation team members for a one on one update.
I’m absolutely with you Kassie, 1 day wouldn’t be so bad, but I have a sneaking suspicion that when this happens it will be a lot more than a day. How does MNA think 1 day will affect the TCH? It’s not like they can’t afford to pay agency nurses to cover for a longer period of time…MNA has stated itself that the hospitals made over $700 million in the past year or so…
Margaret and Nellie well said. Also maybe you all should be writing your employer and telling them to get back to the table and start negotiating in good fatih with the nurses, or else we will play our strike card. Please this locker room bickering is what they want, and needs to stop now. If you have questions please go to your MNA rep or negotiation team member and ask. We need to stay calm, stay patient, and stay united.
MNA Leadership team call the hospitals and restart negotiations! Stop grand standing, we pay you to negotiate ! We want this to be over now. More and more RNS are rethinking your strategy and think we need to resolve this and not strike.
One more thing….My uncle is attorney and he said MNA has no grounds to claim a ULP and will not be able to prove this.
well kassie my uncles a veternarian and he says geld the greedy management team!!
Kassie, unless your uncle has been hired by MNA to represent them, I doubt they have shared any inside information that would allow him to render his professional opinion accurately!
Those of us working for hospitals filing ULP’s know that there is definitely grounds to claim them!
I believe we are standing united, I believe management is slowly destroying our profession. What young person would choose nursing with the provisions defined by them? We need to remain strong for our future nurses, ones that will care for us and our family members the way we are met to care for our patients.
If they called to initiate some dialogue; get your asses in there and do you job. You MNA morons are gonna be the ones to force a strike. We are paying you to settle this, and you continue to be petty little pricks and refuse to even meet because “they want us to modify proposals”. At least u can get in the door and talk.
Amen! Doesn’t “negotiate” by definition involve bargaining with others to come to an agreement/settlement? I don’t see any negotiation going on here, just a lot of finger pointing and game playing.
Let me ask- do the MNA union leaders go on strike with us?
I don’t understand why we rejected the offer to return to the negotiations with a federal mediator. Why wouldn’t it help our cause to have a neutral party involved? My friends and family can’t understand why we’re not at the negotiations table. Doesn’t the telephone work both ways?
I believe that if it is not a ULP strike, striking nurses don’t qualify for unemployment.
Is this true?
That and jobs being there when you get back are not guaranteed under an ‘economic’ strike but are protected in a ‘ULP’ strike.
Kassie, you sound like a very weak person. Your uncle probably knows squat about labor law.
Totally agree with Margaret 110%!!! We are professionals and have an obligation to ourselves and our patients who don’t have a voice in this!! Solidarity was proven on May 19 and we need to stand together!!
eric- our mna reps don’t always have (or are not willing to share?) the information. our negotiating team members are not always available- and refer us to our mna reps (that don’t always have the information). it is somewhat circular- like the mna website. i.e. when we are referred to the “strike facts” that hasn’t been updated. there are many good questions that appear on this blog- it would be far more productive to answer the questions (as opposed to referring to circular references, or, worse, yet denigrating others.) i understand emotions are high, but in order to STAND UNITED i need clear, consistent (respectful) information. thanks.
We have been rounding and talking to as many Rn and MNA reps as possible at ANW. Just keep asking question to your reps and have them talk to their MNA negotiation team memebers. We will answer what we can.
thanks eric. i appreciate that we are getting more information now. keep up the good work!!
I am a brand new nurse and have been following the strike coverage from afar. To all those MN nurses out there who are fed up with the MNA, who are fed up with negotiations process, and who don’t believe they can withstand a strike, I implore you to stand together and fight for fair and safe job conditions. I am fearful that if the nurses fail to get their proposals met, and if the hospitals gain the ability to take advantage of their nurses, that this year’s negotiations could potentially set a precedence that could adversely impact nurses around the nation. I support you all the way from the East Cost, and I ask that you stand up for the careers and livelihoods of professional nurses following in your footsteps!
I agree… The country is watching us… it will set a precidence. What is decided will have ramifications everywhere, not just with where we currently work but in every hospital across the country. If we do not stand up for ourselves now and fight a good fight for what we say we believe is important… who will? The hospitals will think that they can continue to get away with what they are currently doing and what they would like to jam down our throats and accept… and no one will even question them. Who will stand up and be a voice for our patients if we do not do it now? It is absolutely frightening to think of what nursing would become and how little it would mean to be a nurse. I will continue to stand up and speak loudly for myself, for my patients and for my fellow RNs, whether the hospitals want to hear it or not. I have a voice and the hospitals can not silence me. And, as long as there is a Nurses Union, I will be able to be heard.
I am a son of Minnesota, and a CA RN. I have been through the ratio battle and the results have shown a marked improvement in hospital working conditions. Staff turnover, well over 20 percent has been decreased to under 4 percent at many CHW facilities. Last fall we settled a four year contract, for 33 hospitals, at 5 percent a year. New grads are starting at 43.00, in Sacramento. This 10 year step RN is at 53.00 and with a 15 year step will be around 65.00 in three years. Comparable cost of living to TC? Compensation is based on years of relevant experience. A free healthcare plan, WHA, which I use. Dental and vision. Two contracts ago we asked for an improved pension plan rather than the increase in 403B match they offered. We told them to reward nurses and you will end losing staff through the revolving door. Management agreed and now CHW vows to be the number one healthcare employer. This is all saving the hospital system money. Our contracts are respected with over 50 years of history. Our latest goal has been to get our patients covered by break relief nurses so ratios are maintained at all times. Some units are fully implemented and others are coming online. This has been working through our satisfaction surveys that showed missed meals and breaks was a source of staff dissatisfaction and resignation. Also, our paid by the hospital, Professional Practice Committees have supported staff to improve conditions. Next is lift teams and equipment. For those of you faint of heart, note that you are not that well reimbursed. You do not have the best ratios, yet. You get that by standing together and advocating for better. Hospital reimbursements different in MN than CA? Not so much. MN the home of how many Fortune 500 companies? Challenge your hospitals to make a commitment to be the best. If that is uncomfortable for you, follow those who will lead. That is how change is made.
I completely agree with Richard, Linda M.H., and New Nurse Graduate–we’re making history with this contract; I do not understand those who are impatient and just want to get this settled as quickly as possible, this is the attitude the hospitals are hoping to see in us. We have been working for months on this campaign, let’s not get the battle-rattle now. The vote was just one week ago–let’s be patient and thoughtful about what we do next. Unions may not be perfect and union/employer politics may be uncomfortable, but our patients (and we) definitely benefit from our strong union membership!!
I’m with Dave. I don’t really care about a raise. I want to keep what we have, there is no good reason to tear the past contracts to shreds.
As far as being able to afford this, I am a single parent supporting two children-one in college who I pay all living expenses for, and I am in college myself. I can’t afford this either, but my alternative is to quit, which I may very well do if they take away everything. At the very least I will go casual. What TCH is offering sticks worse than some of the things we smell at work. I am tired of working my butt off and getting advanced degrees to be treated like I am working in a factory. And I know what that is like, been there done that.
As far as negotiations go, I am with MNA. We said our piece. If management is not willing to really sit down and discuss the issues, then why should we waste our time? Yes, we probably need to give on some things, but we should not have to give things back. They agreed to these in the past, they don’t get to take them away like disgruntled children
I am a MNA RN, and I voted to strike because I hoped it would move negotiations forward. I have heard from multiple people that the public is not on our side, and I dont totally blame them. BOTH sides are asking for the World, BOTH sides are unrealistic, and each side is waiting to see who blinks first. PLEASE, PLEASE negotiate! Give a little, Take a little…
As an RN who has gone through a few strikes including the 1984 strike this panic mode is what the hospitals hope occurs—thus divide the nurses & they will win. This fear of the unknown is a common thread in strike situations. Sounds like it lives again in some of these comments. We must settle down & be patient so that our union can do the work they need to do for us. Rumors will occur until this thing is over. Our reps will keep us in the loop & will keep us posted better in this age than in strikes of the past due to all of the electronic communication tools available today. Use your energy to support our union reps & not to castrate them. When they know the latest info they will spread the word. This instant notification demands & fear mongering is wasted negative energy. Use your time for providing support to our peers. One thing I learnt in 1984 was to always have some of my own money saved for my own personal strike fund. Maybe some of you will now learn this lesson from this strike. I remember having to borrow money to support my children as a single mom & to pay my mortgage & decided that will never happen to me again. Stay focused & strong because our time has come once again to stand up for pt safety, pt care & the staffing that supports those principles.
This is the first time I’ve been involved in a strike situation & I pray it’s my last. There’s a lot of fingers being pointed at the hospital negotiators regarding the way they’re negotiating or not negotiating. What’s the saying… when you’re pointing your finger at someone you have 3 pointing back at you. I’ve wanted to ask this question for quite some time… what was the point of making the hospital negotiators wait around a few weeks back… the union said they wern’t ready, then they’ll be there at ____ . Then they show up late only to “read to the negotiators” & ask for a break. I thought that was quite childish not to mention unprofessional. The one day strike sounds quite unprofessional as well. I read a recent article about the one day strike & I couldn’t believe what I was reading. One of the responsives today mentioned the public is not on our side, if they read the same article they won’t be. A one day strike is a low blow. The union is saying this isn’t about the $$$ but then they turn around & want to stick it to the hospital where it would hurt the most, the wallet & while we’re at cause a big headache for everyone. When will enough be enough. We don’t need to make history this way. Someone needs to be the bigger person & settle this. Patients look up to us, let’s keep it that way.
Well said.
MNA Nurses: We CAN do this! Of course the hospitals are going to do everything in their power to make us look bad, argue amongst ourselves, and blur the true meaning behind this battle. A strike would be tough financially for everyone but we have known this time is coming for over a year. Planning is/was key….if you didn’t then call your mortgage/car/school loan lender and take care of your issues. I don’t know how we CAN’T afford to strike given the crap we were offered. Oh, and BTW, thank God Kassie’s uncle isn’t OUR lawyer!!! Stand strong!!!!
I will tell you what is going to happen with the relationship the nurses have with their techs, cna’s and other aids and, it is already happening. Why do you think you deserve better insurance than those you work with that are non contract employees? Why is it we non contract employees are supposed to support you when you are in this for only you. It’s all for you and none of us non contract people. No I don’t wish to be a nurse, so that question is answered before you tell me to
become a nurse. I am going to college to be something other than a nurse but I do work along side nurses and I feel lessor than you nurses because of your holier thanthough attitudes. If we speak up about some of your proposals being not fair we are called company plants or brown nosers. I am sick of hearing about how great you all are and hearing nothing at all about how we kiss your asses when ever you need something done on the job. Get this, get tha,t do this, do that while you could of done some of it yourselves while we are already busy. The thanks we get is nowhere to be found on my floor. It’s all about the arrogant nurses and how great they are. We lessor thans are not appreciated. We lessor thans are going to be the ones stuck working with scabs making 4700 a week. We people of the lower threshold in hospital employment life hope to god you get your due but please get off the flippin high horses and think about what your putting us through. Frustrated is not the word to describe my
feelings. I am angry. You deserve the same insurance we get. You deserve the same pay
increases we get. Why are you so better than us?
Your forgetting we work together. You forget or choose not to look at 2% pay increase on a $32-$58 an hour wage vs 2% on a $15-20 an hour wage. There is a big difference. I was a protestor during the Vietnam War and I believe in justice. You nurses are not being just when it comes to us lessor thans.
Maybe Kassie should remember all the nurses in the past that sacrificed so that our wages and benefits would make it possible for her to buy a house in the first place!
In an age of Wall Street, BP Oil, Housing Market econimic disasters with golden parachtes for CEOS, remember: Florence Nightingale held her nurses for 2 weeks on a ship until the army started cleaning up the working conditions. She later was given authority to continue to clean up the system. She became a public heath heroe world wide. Solidarity Nurses-this is an important cause in the history of nurses
Marty, you need to get a clue. You _ _ _, leave the Vietnam War out of this. Are you goofy? That has absolutely NOTHING to do with this MNA RN blog site. You need to go to a different internet site if you want to whine.
I am a full time Allina RN with 8 years of experience and I have say I’m very disappointed with both sides of this contract negotiation. First of all, upper management has no leg to stand on when they are cutting our benefits but giving themselves more money. It takes away their credibility if this is motivated by the recession.
Yet I’m very upset at how the nurses are responding to the proposal as well. I like my workplace and my job (I have crappy shifts just like anyone else, but would never want to do anything else). I don’t understand the logic behind how “unfair” this contract is. My salary has doubled since I started, I have a lot of PTO time, a great pension (even if it gets cut), still above average health insurance if we switch plans, and the schedule of my choice. I feel I am very lucky. If you have a roof over your head and food on the table, you are richer than 80% of people worldwide, and we have so much more to be thankful for. I don’t feel like I need a giant pension- I have 3 other retirement accounts. When I retire, I want to be comfortable- but I don’t need a bunch more material crap that I can’t take to my grave anyway. I don’t see at all how this contract is the end of the world. We are much better off than a lot of people with masters degrees and PhDs.
I do have issues with this contract, and it has to do 100% with patient care. I want safeguards placed in the contract that we don’t have to take more patients than what we currently do and that our other patient care staff will not be cut either. I also want training if I have to float to other floors. I am not comfortable feeling like a dumbass if I’m taking care of unfamiliar patients, and I certainly don’t want to be put oncall whenever they feel like it. I put in my 40 hrs every week, I want to enjoy my days off.
I am very nervous. A few years back, there was a huge nursing shortage, but now new grads are having to go out of state to find work. We are very replaceable (with other bodies anyway.) I would very much like to have a job at the end of this. Please, please, please MNA negotiators.. really fight for what is best for our patients. Patients want safe staffing and excellent care, and that should be our #1 priority this negotiation rather than our pocketbook.
I’m thankful for our MNA reps, I think they’re doing a great job for us. I’m tired of people saying we nurses are only focusing on the money, we are being greedy, “times are tough for everyone,” blah blah blah. To some extent yes, it is about money, because that is generally the nature of a contract with an employer! But the bigger picture is about our profession. We are educated, highly trained professionals who hold patients lives in our hands everyday. Why shouldn’t we receive at least the pay/benefits that we already have? Why shouldn’t we get adequate lunch/dinner breaks and have enough staff to watch our patients ? Why shouldn’t we be able to take a few minutes for a bathroom break? More and more is expected of nurses in recent years, from increased patient loads, increased patient satisfaction, increased documentation/charting, and even taking on some of the duties of doctors. We are expected to be more professional, but have been threatened and belittled to except less for what we do. We should expect at least what we have already fought for, and we should expect better working conditions like adequate staffing and breaks. These are basic things. We can take better care of our patients when our own basic needs are being met.
Why shouldn’t we receive certain labor rights? Because the popular mindset has shifted from striving to advance working conditions to: “if I don’t get it, why should you?”
I am an RN at Methodist. I just want the contract to remain the same with the current benefits. I am happy that staffing is an issue for the MNA…I think 7 pts on the night shift is too much for one nurse. I would be happy with only 6 a night and enough NA help.(qualified NA’s). Hospitals staff bare bones so if one person calls in there isn’t even someone to do a one to one if it becomes necessary. If you think we deserve the same insurance and the same pay then you become a nurse and see what occurs. Are you responsible for lives? Is the medication you give possibly life altering or ending. What are you talking about? Patients want us to help them, but don’t want us to be well qualified and trained. Most nurses have years of experience. Many are bachelor trained nurses. Women no longer have to be nurses. There is a great change coming to nursing. I am not telling my daughters to be nurses I am advising them to go to college to be engineers or professors. Who then will take care of us all?
guys don’t forget the big picture here, this lack of budging is by the metro area hospitals, their offer was junk from the beginning, the horrors of the current state of our staffing ALONE is enough to strike over not to mention ripping apart a pension and giving nothing back to us for the 30% cut they “proposed” figure it out (30yr nrsg career at 1.75% or 30 yr at 1.2% adds up to a LARGE cut in YOUR benefit as a working RN. Example, RN 30 yr at rule of 85 to retire would get 2,000 a monthx12 months year = 24,000. saylive for 30yrs at at the 24,000=720,000 dollars of real benefit. NOW take away 30% as proposed by our current “offer” = 450,000 benefit. So ask yourself this, 1. plan on being a nurse all your career
2. do you feel like giving away 270,000 of benefit dollars at your retirement?
3. is your current level of staffing HORRIBLE?
Take your time, don’t put the cart before the horse and see you on the picket line!
As a nurse I want to know why every time the MNA has an update it’s written like a divorced spouse that cannot put on the hat of business relations and try negotiating with the hospitals, but would rather spread drama and push for a strike to try and hurt the one that is hurting them/us. Let’s negotiate rather than strike; this is business. Just because it affects us personally does not mean it’s personal. Can’t the MNA at least make it sound like we are trying to stay the high road, rather than getting so angry and sucked into hospitals games? The attitude and presentation of information makes me embarrassed to be represented by MNA. Our negotiation team needs business minded objective nurses, not emotion stirred flustered leaders.
I have read all these postings and I am rather sad at the way we are going at one another, not the issues so much. I do feel that the nurses haven’t been informed in a consistent manner by MNA. The way the information is being given out isn’t the greatest. I love the way Allina is sending out the emails weekly showing such concern for its nurses…hah mind games on their part. But an email every week none the less. I believe alot of the unease we are hearing is due to the feeling of lack of information. Maybe if we had a better organized way of getting
info from MNA and reps we would be more united in our stance. But please..stop at one another…we are all nurses.
I wonder if, in the same spirit, the Union will suspend Union dues for their members and if the Union top brass wi ll suspend their pay. There isn’t a strike fund so the nurses need all the extra cash they can get and the Union has insisted it isn’t about the money anyways.
I also wonder if the Union will release their financials so their membership can know exactly where their dues are going (salaries, “political action”, etc.). It might help to explain why there is no strike fund.
As an aside before I am completely dismissed, no, I’m not employed by any hospital in any way and I’m not anti-union, in fact I am a member of a union. I just think the Union should as transparent as they expect the hospitals to be. Members pay millions of dollars each year in dues and they deserve to know where that money is going.
Thomas MNA does have a strike fund and we do make our financials available to our members. I’m assuming you are not a member otherwise you’d know this.
FYI: every MNA RN I’ve talked to at work says there is no strike fund…why do none of us know about this?
There is a strike fund MNA has and can use for hardship situations RNs might encounter. It is a long and complicated process to try and explain how that fund is used/etc., but UTD RN, we can chat about that in person anytime if you’d like. Too hard to explain over e-mail/blog comments.
To clear up a few issues in the comments. MNA does have a strike fund. Also people bashing “the union” are really bashing nurses. MNA is made up of 20,000 nurses from around MN and has about 50 staff whose job it is to serve our nurses. Your co-workers, your fellow nurses – they are the ones leading MNA right now, and trust me when I say they have their patients’ and their fellow nurses’ best interests at heart.
1984 Strike veterans are correct in reminding those new to this endeavor that the hospitals are hoping for this exact scenario to unfold – that the hospitals’ campaign of fear-mongering, misinformation and outright lies will divide our nurses. The only way MNA Nurses win a fair contract that protects our patients is to stick together. Keep the faith in your fellow nurses!
I urge you to TRUST your fellow nurses, your co-workers, and that they have your best interests at heart. These are the folks in the trenches with you and your patients every day.
Lastly, labor contract negotiations for 12,000 nurses and 14 different hospitals is not something that happens instantly and overnight. I know in the 2010 age of Social Media we want ALL the info and we want it instantly, and your MNA nurses are doing their best to provide the info you need to stay informed as fast as possible.
If you have questions, KEEP ASKING and your fellow nurses will answer. Please don’t let the anti-nurse trolls in these comments or elsewhere get you down.
This situation is all about communication and trust, and it’s my hope you know that you can TRUST your fellow nurses above and beyond hospital management or anyone else when it comes to the facts and the dynamics of this situation.
Why are even the most modest dissenters being shouted down? Are we not allowed to disagree on some decisions or approaches. I didnt think being an MNA member was the equivalent of employment in the North Korean govt. Handing over your employment and life to the bargaining team and MNA bosses is a tough pill to swallow for some. Many of us younger nurses dont want to lose are homes and other things. We are just asking questions or bringing up some ideas. I am ashamed that if you dissent at all you are labeled as a “rat” (quoted from above) or turncoat. This behavior is scary and cultish in nature.
Jacki – I’m sorry that some people are getting too emotional in the comments. You have every right to ask questions and state concerns since you haven’t been through this before. And we want to help you understand and feel free to ask questions. Nurses stick together and we’ve got your back in this!
I am a nurse working at a hospital involved in this fiasco. I think that the whole “negotiation” is a sham. Of course the hospitals are trying to reduce nursing staff costs and increase staffing flexibility. This makes perfect sense.
MNA seems to be more interested in simply having a fight (and a strike) than actually negotiating a reasonable contract for the next 3 years. I think the mistake nurses are making is believing that they are the union. The union is really just another big organization with their hand in our pocket.
If we strike the hospital loses (it will cost a fortune for hospitals to pay for temporary nursing staff). Nurses lose (how many nurses can afford to go very long without pay?) Patients lose (Understaffed, undertrained, temporary nurses are going to be responsible for the sick and injured we care so much about.)
MNA…wins! (Hmm. I wonder why they are not interested in going back to the table?)
The reality is nurses make a good living and have excellent flexibility in our work schedules. We also get very good benefits when compared to most professions.
I am concerned about the work agreement proposals being made by hospitals but I think that this can be negotiated to a reasonable settlement. The pension thing is ridiculous. If you don’t trust the hospital while you are working why would you want to trust them with your income once you are retired? How about some redirection of retirement funding from the pension to 401(k) contributions? Health insurance changes – let’s take a look at this but I don’t believe what MNA is saying about how this would work any more than I would trust the hospital. (Remember: The goal of MNA is to strike.)
Solidarity in collective bargaining is fine. It is the one reasonable service MNA is supposed to provide. (Albeit at a very high cost) However, the propaganda, distortions and distractions that the union spews are not helpful.
When I see union reps running around the hospital tearing down updates provided by the hospital to replace them with only the union updates I get suspicious. When a union rep stands up at a “negotiation” meeting and goes on a profanity laced tirade with no real point but to put on a show I am ashamed to be part of the union.
MNA – Grow up and lets get this settled.
Hospitals – Let’s be realistic and reasonable.
Angie, The reality is (you) nurses make a good living and have excellent flexibility in our work schedules and also get very good benefits when compared to most professions because nurses have negotiated for these in the past. Our union reps listen to nurses through their vote on rejecting or accepting a contract so nurses are represented by MNA. Also the hospitals do not manage our retirement fund, they do contribute to it. I’ve never seen a union rep running around a hospital. If we have a contract with safe staffing language, patients win, nurses win and in the end hospitals win. I’m sorry you are so hateful toward the union, but with it’s help we have seen nursing grow as a respectable profession
Remember, nurses, the hospital reps who are reading these comments are loving this dissension in the ranks!!!
Not only hospital reps but Non-Nurse employees that are going crazy with MNA people pouting why the “hospitals” don’t set up mtgs to negotiate. Allina has said they want to meet. What the heck more do you need? Set the darn mtgs up then. Part of this is negotiating. I too am very tired of nurses that think they deserve more benefits, more pension, more everything than non-contract emplyees. I do not know of any or many companies that an employee would even expect full-time benefits at only a .4!! How ridiculous! MNA wanted the nurses to strike months ago and have them all riled up to do so. They don’t want to negotiate. AAGGHH
While I agree that the hospitals are making little effort to negotiate, we should be making a better effort…taking the high road. Many of us voted for the strike to “motivate” management to negotiate harder. If they have rejected our proposals, should we not bring a modified proposal for their review? The idea is to “negotiate”, which is give and take on BOTH sides. Give this some more effort…please!!
Hospitals not only reading, sometimes writing them!
Please. All we are asking is that the nurses receive the same health benefits, pension and wage increases that all other Allina employees receive.
You do want the same and better, what’s up with your comment
I am an RN in MNA and work for Allina. I implore both sides to negotiate a solution and avoid the path of striking. I believe there are solutions that could highly benefit both sides–i.e. a model for safe staffing that would include a highly trained ‘floating’ staff that could accomodate areas of high need in the fluctating census and patient care needs. Current ‘Circulating nurses ‘ and ‘Rapid response teams’ who can be called on for an array of urgent patient care needs effectively alleviate many safety issues. Could an expansion of this model provide both patient safety and hospital needed flexibility? Please talk more.. I say this to both Allina and MNA.
Cindy, you are on the right track!!!!
All you nurses who are upset with our negotiations, please stop and take time to think what the hospitals contract offers are. Nothing, it is all take aways. Taking away what nurses have fought to gain. I feel our proposals have little to do with great monitary gain It is more about holding on to what we have and keeping ouselves and our patients safe. I am so thankful for our MNA reps who are educated in the language of a contract and our watching out for the nursing profession. I have a four year degree and a boatload of continuing education behind me. I take the responsibility to keep on top of educating myself for the good of my patients. I want nursing to be a highly respected profession and have no problem saying we should receive a respectable wage. Our MNA reps have been negotiating, they went down on the % of a wage increase. There should be no negotiating with what is already ours. We should not be saying OK you can take that away from us. Why? We are not asking for alot, thank-you MNA reps for all the work you do
Got that right!
MNA the nurses are frustrated, your frustrated and the public is frustrated. I believe in our cause 99% but I do not agree in any wage increase at this time, I and several of my fellow nurses are willing to go with the 0,1,2 deal we do however want safe staffing for our patients and wnat to keep our pension that we have! Please listen to the nurses whom you represent. thank you.
After reading the posts above, I think that the negative posts are probably not MNA members; I think that they are management posing as MNA nurses. I think that nurses are not greedy, and the public that I have spoken with is supportive of us. If I were greedy I would not have taken a cut in pay to teach nursing, by working .5 and through my teacher’s salary.
Please read the following letter I wrote that was recently published in the Star Tribune. Co-workers (at the MNA hospital I work at) are finding it affirming and inspirational also.
Subject: Contract negotiations
I am a registered nurse with 26 years of acute hospital care experience. I have worked in East Metro hospitals for 22 ½ years and I am currently a clinical instructor at Century College. I am writing this letter as a nursing instructor who is concerned for the future of nursing.
Nurses are advocates. The 12,000 nurses currently bargaining are advocating for not only patient safety but for the future of nursing. The over 100 eager nursing students graduating this week from our program hope to fill job needs and fulfill their RN roles. If the healthcare environment fosters incivility and discourages collaboration, these students may turn to other careers. The hospital nurses claim that they are stretched too far. If so, then who will mentor the students in their academic clinical settings? If technology is the future of healthcare then I need to be programming robots, not educating students to use critical thinking and clinical judgment.
Nurses are lifetime learners. There are thousands of practicing RNs who are experienced, degreed and certified. Many of the hospitals hold magnet status or are seeking it. A critical element of magnet status is evidence-based practice. Evidence based practice, according to Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, consists of asking the clinical question and critically appraising the available evidence. From there one determines outcomes based on nursing judgment and patient preferences. One must ask if the current nursing staffing with high patient acuity and high nursing intensity allows individual RNs to pursue evidence-based practice.
Nurses are collaborators. Perhaps the reason that the number of patient deaths has not been high with current RN staffing is that the nurses work together to improve patient outcomes. This is a hallmark and source of pride for the hospitals. However, the nurses are now saying that they are working beyond their scope of practice because of insufficient staffing. Are we prepared to accept the consequences of nurses not being physically, mentally and emotionally prepared to care for patients? It would be unethical to study the effects of insufficient staffing on human participants, yet there is data available on the subject that can be analyzed. I propose that perhaps the money spent on the replacement nurses instead be spent on solving the wide gap in the negotiations to create a win-win solution.
Janine Frans, MAN, RN
Nursing Faculty, Century College
Maplewood
“1984 Strike veterans are correct in reminding those new to this endeavor that the hospitals are hoping for this exact scenario to unfold – that the hospitals’ campaign of fear-mongering, misinformation and outright lies will divide our nurses. The only way MNA Nurses win a fair contract that protects our patients is to stick together. Keep the faith in your fellow nurses!”
I do trust my fellow nurses but not my union (MNA) or the hospital. I believe the MNA is only interested in striking in order to justify their existence. Stating that money is not an issue is a blatant lie. The hospital stating they don’t have the $$ to hire more nurses is not truthful either. There is a middle ground that can be agreed upon by both sides. At this point I am led to believe that the union has no interest in finding that ground. I am willing to strike for the right reasons. This time there are no right reasons.
George, again, MNA IS your fellow nurses! MNA has been made up of and run by Minnesota nurses since 1905. None of this is “staff” driven. The staff are here to serve you, our nurses, in whatever way we can. Again, the leaders at the bargaining tables and at the very top of MNA are indeed your fellow nurses, NOT staff.
George, one of the union reps IS a fellow nurse I work with, who I trust because he is listening to his fellow nurses. You say you are willing to strike for the right reasons, What are the right reasons to you? Do you know what are proposals are? Our negotiations ARE about salary too, as they should be, but (for me) it is not the most important thing in this contract with all that the hospitals are trying to take away. And our fellow nurses MNA) who represent us (fellow nurses) have listened to us and are bringing to the hospital OUR proposals
Why can’t MNA sit down with a modified proposal to the hospitals? Ask for less money; keep staffing at 3-4 patients and get more support help (aides,techs, etc). In order for good patient outcomes we HAVE to get people to walk patients and answer call lights. Modify the pension proposal and medical benefits. MNA needs to know what its members are willing to negotiate on and start talking!!!! Does MNA know what members are willing to concede on?
Linda, MNA did ask for less money, and at the all nurse meetings we told them (MNA) we did not want to negotiate our pension. We (nurses) told them what we would/would not concede on, so yes they do know. And they are faithfully representing us
I’ve been reading the comments on the MNA’s update. I find it interesting that the person’s who are writing neg. comments are not giving they’re whole names or identify what hospital they come from! Is it possible that the hospitals have persons leaving those neg. comments!
I think everyone needs to reread the MNA’s letter. Did anyone notice that Allina was willing to come back to the table “only if MNA modifies our proposal” What that means is that our proposals would be off the table, and they only want us to look at and agree to their proposals! Have any of the neg. persons read what the hospitals have proposed? The contract that we have right now is a good contract, good for our patients, good for the hospital because without happy patients and families no one would come to us. In other words without nurses you wouldn’t have a hospital, and they wouldn’t be getting bonus’s for things like not differing patients to other hospitals. Stay Strong!
The reason they are afraid to put their real name is they are afraid of what will come, like how the 1984 those who crossed the picket line has come out. Those people have actually been approached. It appears you question MNA, even on this site you are told that you must be management. It could not be that MNA nurses just have questions and concerns that are not being answered and they have fear to question by what they are seeing out on the units.
MNA is doing us a great service. They have done a remarkable job on this year’s negotiations. THANK YOU MNA! By conceding our insurance, pension and the like, the hospitals are trying to make us feel that somehow our benefits are going to cost the public extra money after the proposed health care reform. I can guarantee you that the hospitals will not reduce their prices to the public and insurance companies if we concede these things. They are trying to push this in the public arena. This is why most people that are against the MNA are on their side. They feel they are paying our salaries. The hospitals are making plenty of money, in case you haven’t heard. Ken Paulus’ statement that he is going to suspend his salary until negotiations are resolved is a nice thought but complete BS. Do you think he will be hurting for one moment in suspending his salary? They have been at this for a couple years in trying different tactics including creating hostile environments with the nurses in the hospitals. Haven’t you been checking twice on your charting and making sure you dare not tread into a chart until you have that patient in your care? They have been intimidating us for many months and now they “just want to be reasonable”. Yes, it’s uncomfortable to have to go on strike. Life is not easy, especially when a just cause is being fought for. Don’t be fooled and manipulated so easily by the hospitals. They have their agenda. We basically want our same contract on the big issues. They have lied at least a few times already in the media to make themselves look better. ( Stating that they will give us more ancillary staff to deal with increasing our patient ratio; stating we want SIGNIFICANT increases to our pensions, although we just want to keep it as is- to name just a couple) Don’t put it past them to manipulate YOU too. We are under much duress at our daily job as a RN. Some days more than others – we get yelled at, verbally abused, sometimes physically assaulted. We deal with people that are at their worst emotionally when they come into the hospital. Tell me which one of the office workers can put up with that for 40 hours a week. Not many I’m afraid. Do baseball players deserve their salary? No. Do we deserve ours. Yes. Life isn’t always fair, why don’t people get that? Watch out, grasshopper.
Well stated Mark! Thank you.
Ignore the disruptive Millies trespassing and sounding off because they may have use their PTO time, blah.. blah. Ignore the fake posts by stealth managers. This is your contract nurses, you are the only ones you should listen to. This is about YOUR retirement, your benefits, your patients care and safety.
THANK YOU MARK!!! iF YOU DON’T GO WHERE YOUV’E NEVER BEEN HOW WILL YOU EVER KNOW… Mark, please forgive me, as I just had to cut & paste your great comments! I agree & Ditto. We as nurses voted in our negotiating committee’s. I can slightly understand the multiple negative comments, due to the uncertanties surrounding the vote just one week ago. ~ Patience is a virtue~ I have EVERY faith in MNA & the 9,000 that voted to be where we are currently at….
MNA is doing us a great service. They have done a remarkable job on this year’s negotiations. THANK YOU MNA! By conceding our insurance, pension and the like, the hospitals are trying to make us feel that somehow our benefits are going to cost the public extra money after the proposed health care reform. I can guarantee you that the hospitals will not reduce their prices to the public and insurance companies if we concede these things. They are trying to push this in the public arena. This is why most people that are against the MNA are on their side. They feel they are paying our salaries. The hospitals are making plenty of money, in case you haven’t heard. Ken Paulus’ statement that he is going to suspend his salary until negotiations are resolved is a nice thought but complete BS. Do you think he will be hurting for one moment in suspending his salary? They have been at this for a couple years in trying different tactics including creating hostile environments with the nurses in the hospitals. Haven’t you been checking twice on your charting and making sure you dare not tread into a chart until you have that patient in your care? They have been intimidating us for many months and now they “just want to be reasonable”. Yes, it’s uncomfortable to have to go on strike. Life is not easy, especially when a just cause is being fought for. Don’t be fooled and manipulated so easily by the hospitals. They have their agenda. We basically want our same contract on the big issues. They have lied at least a few times already in the media to make themselves look better. ( Stating that they will give us more ancillary staff to deal with increasing our patient ratio; stating we want SIGNIFICANT increases to our pensions, although we just want to keep it as is- to name just a couple) Don’t put it past them to manipulate YOU too. We are under much duress at our daily job as a RN. Some days more than others – we get yelled at, verbally abused, sometimes physically assaulted. We deal with people that are at their worst emotionally when they come into the hospital. Tell me which one of the office workers can put up with that for 40 hours a week. Not many I’m afraid. Do baseball players deserve their salary? No. Do we deserve ours. Yes. Life isn’t always fair, why don’t people get that? Watch out, grasshopper.
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Regarding ancillary staff in our CA hospital. Our great contracts have helped everyone raise their contracts. Like a rising tide all ships will rise together. One problem is that your ancillary staff are not organized. Yet!
So frustrating! Get back to the table. Find the middle ground. MNA you were given a job to do stay at the table and find a way!!! Stop listening to the California NNU they are leading us down the wrong path! This is Minnesota we are great because we have always done things our own way and that is why we have some of the best outcomes in the country. This is the wrong time and place to have this fight.
My wife works in the ER and although I am ambivalent about unions in general I think MNA would be foolish not to fight this fight. In all candor, you guys have leverage, you’re the face of healthcare and if the hospitals could stick it to you free and clear and unilaterally take back whatever they wanted they would have done so years ago. Many people are simply envious of the leverage that you wield but this leverage was earned by generations of nurses who willingly risk their jobs and economic livelihood to go on strike and to solidify and advance the profession. I know this may sound like a line from an MNA spokesperson but the truth is the truth. Earlier this year, my job as well as those of several hundred of my fellow employees were eliminated due to corporate restructuring at a large Eagan corporation. I have no recourse, in part because I am not in a union but also attorneys are proscribed from unionizing which is understandable. However, TC nurses have leverage and it is probably approaching its zenith; if you are too weak to exercise this leverage you will pay for this weakness not only now but in subsequent contracts. Once you make concessions to management/corporations you can kiss them goodbye either for a very long-time or permanently. In regards to public relations, you should prepare yourself for charges that you are overpaid but I think it is important to remind people that this alleged high salary is based upon a nurse working almost full-time with considerable experience which is fairly atypical. The fact is that the nursing field has a high turnover rate. Finally, If I have one criticism (constructive) of MNA, it is from the lay person’s perspective in that the hospitals are doing a better job of framing this dispute in terms of wages vis a vis staffing. “We care for you” albeit pithy; it unfortunately fails to convey the ramifications of poor staffing to the average onlooker. Therefore, this is where the union members can come in to give clarification as to what these ramifications are in terms of patient safety but also your potential exposure to lawsuits. Anyways, I support the nurses 100% and I will likely walk the line if my wife wants me to and if this means we will need to dip into our retirement to keep us afloat, so be it.
We need to stay united. People we all know the state of the economy and the hosptial is using that against us. Look at the CEOs salaries…do you think they are hurting? Come on..be tough together and believe that we deserve to be paid for our expertise and work in our speciality area.
Be Strong!!!
I agree that MNA IS doing a good service,
What is up w/ some of you nurses???? Really…..we went to school to become a safe, smart, caring nurse w/a moderate salary and most of us work part-time on that $$. Isn’t this really a great career when you look at the whole picture?
Don’t throw it all away because of a few days of “fear”. Trust in the MNA team. Be patient so we can have patients to care for later in our career. Have faith and say a prayer for the team that is fighting “OUR” battle!!!!
You go MNA!!! Thanks for all you are doing for “US”. Let’s stand TOGETHER and be strong and proud. We are a great team. We showed we are united when we voted.
Proud MNA nurse at North.
I am an RN but not in your bargaining unit. We stand with you as you try to advance the profession. Any nurse who would not cooperate with this labor action is only cutting their own throats and leaving nursing in a worse condition than what they received as they entered this noble profession. Look to California for mandatory staffing ratios to protect our patients lives. Don’t let the hospitals use the economy to lock you in to a poor 3-year contract. Solidarity!
I’m an MNA member, but not of the involved Twin City contract. My MNA contract has a “no strike” clause, and we are termed “essential employees”. We do not gain very much from the other MNA contracts; we did get a trickle-down benefit of no mandated over-time – more than a year after everyone else. Involved nurses really need to keep this TCH situation professional and not emotional. The public does NOT understand. In this economic climate, any strike action may be severely criticized. Be strong, but cautious. Good Luck!
SCABS!
This is who will be crossing our picket line…
Temp Firms a Magnet for Unfit Nurses – ProPublica
http://www.propublica.org
Emboldened by a chronic nursing shortage and scant regulation, temp nursing firms vie for their share of a free-wheeling, $4-billion industry. Some have become havens for nurses who hopscotch from place to place to avoid the consequences of their misconduct.
Health Source Global Staffing Job posting:
Minnesota Strike
We have received strike notice for a one day strike on June 10th. We will be paying $1600 for one day of work and a 4 hour orientation. We need you to fly out June 7th, 8th or 9th for orientation.
4 Hour Orientation! What?!?
MNA nurse – I can top that – another company is offering $2,225 for 1 days work with 8 (!!) hours of orientation. They want to cut our pension 30% and give us a 0% raise but they can pay a nurse this much for one day. Insanity.
Consumers Beware!
And the hospitals say that they don’t have the money… And then they say that patient safety isn’t in jeopardy… And then they say how dare the nurses defy the hospitals… How dare the the nurses stand up against our deceit… how dare the nurses try to put their hands in our CEOs pockets and show the entire counry our profits! How dare they try to make safety a priority over our profits! How dare they try to make hospitals and nursing care safe for the patient! How dare they make the patient the center of care! We’ll show them!” I hope that the Public can see the hospitals and their CEOs for who and what they really are… Their actions are speaking loud and clear… I hope that people will see them for their lies… I want a nurse taking care of my patients – I don’t want a hospital CEO taking care of them. I refuse to be manipulated by the hospitals and their CEOs or their “mouthpiece-spokesperson Number 2.”
P.S.
Dave Cress (North Memorial Hospital CEO) got a $133,000 raise in pay (14.7%) this year, a $250,000 bonus at Christmas time (while the hospital was laying off staff that they: “couldn’t afford, not to mention how disruptive it was to the patients – he wasn’t concerned about the patients – he was concerned about his bottom line and how much of it went into his pocket), and making his base salary of $950,000 a year. His salary is the LOWEST of the Twin Cities CEO’s @ 1.4 million dollars this year.
I am getting really disgusted with Hospital CEOs! I keep getting the visual reminder of the CEOs that flew in on their private jets when they were coming for the government bailouts… only it was the PUBLIC that ended up bailing those guys out. In our situation it will ultimately be the patient and the nurses paying in blood, sweat and tears. “Florence really would be mortified!”
I support MNA RNs and I support all of the California nurses that will be striking on the same day! Standing strong against corporate greed and standing strong for our patients! Can that many nurses really be wrong? I don’t think so!
P.S. again… Sorry, It’s just that I am so worked up and spitting angry… One more entry and then I’ll just let all of this go for awhile…
25,000 Registered Nurses in Minnesota and California are not wrong about wanting to keep their patients and nurses safe from harm! It’s what we do. Nursing does not define me as a person – it defines what my morals and priorities are in my profession. It hints at what is important to me and why I was drawn to this profession to begin with. The people in the general public should be asking what the hospitals and their CEOs stand for… and right now it most definately is NOT about patient safety. And what disturbs me even more is how the hospitals turn it around and lie! DISENGENUOUS is a word that fits them well. When some of them got their degrees one of the classes must have been: “How to lie to the public ,mean it and believe it yourself.”
There has been a rash of bogus terminations and other harassment of nurses going on at the hospital where I work. Is everyone experiecing this or is it just our management that is slimey enough to try these tactics to divide us?
Yes this a form of anti-union behavior and bully tactics to scare us and divide us. This type of behavior has been rampant at many or all of the hospitals involved with contract negotiaitons.
They can’t divide us but I gotta tell you that to see a friend and coworker terminated and accused is a very scarey thing. HOW can they get away with ruining people’s lives? WHY can’t we put a stop to this? HOW can we go to work and be the caring and compassionate nurses we are fighting to be while always looking over our shoulders?
How do we keep going?
We put one foot in front of the other and WALK…
Walk the picket line if it comes to that. The hospitals and CEOs and spokesperson are giving us even more incentive to do what we believe is right. They are now antagonizing and being bullies to the nurses because we will not submit to them. They are “upset” with us because we will not comply. We will not say that they are right when we know that they are wrong. I have eyes that see the truth, I have a brain that thinks for itself and can reason and determine that what they are trying to implement is wrong, I have a heart that feels deeply that what they propose will compromise not only my patients but my profession, I sense that what they are doing is wrong, I have a conscience and I stand behind and live with my decisions, I have a very strong spirit and it will fight for what is right! I hope that both sides can come to a resolution and find some common ground… If not, then I will proudly walk the picket line for what I believe in… because I truly believe in what I do. I do important and good work and I refuse to let the hospitals and CEOs make is less than what it is. I will not let them diminish what nursing is about. I will walk with my fellow nurses that believe in the same thing!
I’ve been experiencing the same thing at my hospital. We spend our shifts paranoid about what we’re missing or forgetting to chart so we don’t get fired for one simple human error! Like you said, how are we supposed to be able to care for our patients and their families whole-heartedly when we’re always having to watch out backs and double, triple, quadruple check our charting, and ensure that everything that is supposed to be done in a “perfect” world is done? Of course all of this needs to be accomplished within your scheduled time….because we all know we’ll be “talked to” about having overtime too.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to be paid more for providing excellent care and working hard. I’m tired of hearing “it’s not about the money…, I really want to help people…, It was a calling to be a nurse…” Great, BUT YOU ALSO DESERVE TO BE PAID WELL! The sooner you believe this, the sooner you will have it.
During the last strike, groups of RNS split off 1 by 1, some siogned contracts at the last minute. I believe that only Southdale held out. We ALL reap the benefits that fought for. STAND TOGETHER!
Nurses deserve to get paid well but just like selling a car, you are only worth what someone else is willing to pay. There are plenty of nurses willing to work. Becareful of what you ask for, you might just get it.