As many as 15,000 Twin Cities and Duluth hospital nurses could strike for three days, starting Sept. 12, if an agreement isn't reached on overdue three-year contracts.
Thursday's 10-day advance notice of a strike follows weeks of unsuccessful negotiations — with the two sides far apart on wage increases, staffing levels, and compensation and support after two and a half years of pandemic.
A "crisis of retention" motivated the strike decision, said Mary Turner, president of the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) and an intensive care nurse at North Memorial Health in Robbinsdale. Unless pay and benefits are substantially improved, the continued loss of nurses will leave hospitals dangerously understaffed.
"They need to see it as the crisis that it is," Turner said. "We've said over and over that this isn't something we do lightly, but we're not going to just sit back and do nothing. We can't."
The announcement will set off a scramble to hire replacement help at Allina, Children's and Fairview hospitals in the Twin Cities along with HealthPartners' Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park and North Memorial. Nurses also would be striking at St. Luke's Hospital in Duluth and Essentia Health hospitals in Duluth, Moose Lake and Superior, Wisc.
Both sides agree on the need to improve recruitment and retention, but the hospitals contend the nurses' proposals are too costly. The nurses are seeking more than 30% increases in compensation by the end of the three-year contract while the hospitals have offered 10% to 12%.
"It just isn't a realistic number," said Paul Omodt, a spokesperson for several of the negotiating Twin Cities hospitals. Allina and Fairview hospitals are posting operating losses so far this year.
North Memorial nurse Brianna Hnath argued that the hospitals can't afford to wait to improve benefits and retention. Staffing shortfalls already resulted in a 14-hour wait at North Memorial's emergency department recently.