15,000 nurses to walk off job in historic strike over wages and staffing levels

9/3/2022

Minnesota – The strike will be one of the largest nurses’ strikes in U.S. history, affecting 16 hospitals across the Twin Cities and Duluth area.

After months of stalled negotiations, some 15,000 union nurses across more than a dozen hospitals will strike for three days later this month in what the union believes will be the largest private sector nurses’ strike in U.S. history.

The strike will begin on Sept. 12, after the required 10-day notice period, and affect 16 hospitals run by many of the state’s largest health systems including Allina, HealthPartners, Children’s Minnesota, Fairview Health Services, North Memorial, Essentia and St. Luke’s Duluth.

“Today is a somber day,” said Minnesota Nurses Association President Mary Turner, dressed in all black, during a Thursday news conference. “Our health care and our profession are in crisis.”

Hospital leaders have countered with raises of about 10% over three years, which they say would be the largest raises for nurses in 15 years.

A spokesperson for several hospitals said they are disappointed the union “rushed into an intent to strike” and called the nurses’ economic demands “unreasonable, unrealistic and unaffordable.”

The hospitals will remain open during the strike, hospital representatives said, and they’re working on contingency plans to continue providing care should they fail to reach a deal with the union in the next 10 days.

The strike threatens to disrupt patient care and hurt hospital finances by forcing the health systems to hire temporary nurses at premium rates.

In 2016, two nurses’ strikes at Allina cost the health system $149 million, wiping out its entire operating income for the year. The nurses went on strike for one week in the summer, followed by an open-ended strike that lasted 37 days, one day shy of the longest nurses’ strike in state history.

Union nurses say the step is necessary to protect the quality of care for patients long term.

Nurses say hospitals are dangerously understaffed, leading to more patient injuries like bed sores and falls.

A recent report from the Minnesota Department of Health shows adverse health events were up 33% in 2021 from 2020 and last year, nurses filed nearly 8,000 reports of unsafe staffing levels, an increase of 300% from 2014.