DULUTH – It came like the storm that had recently passed overhead, a caravan of honking cars and passengers waving signs — "No layoffs Essentia" and "Honk for health care" — to protest the hundreds of job losses at the area's largest employer.
Cars wove around the health system's downtown Duluth campus while some union officials stood on street corners as part of an informational picket Monday afternoon.
"We don't want to see any layoffs, especially since the [COVID-19] surge hasn't hit our area yet," said United Steelworkers Local 9460 President Deanna Hughes.
Essentia announced last month it would permanently lay off 900 people as revenue dives as a result of pandemic preparations and reduced business. About half of those lost jobs would be in the Twin Ports.
Officials expected about 20% of the layoffs to affect staff in direct patient care, with the rest spread across support services. United Steelworkers, which represents 50,000 health care workers around the country, has both clinical and support staff among its members.
About 300 union members are facing layoffs in the Duluth area, though Hughes said the protest was meant to have a broad scope.
"It affects more than just our members, and it's going to make access for the community that much harder," she said.
Adam Ritscher, who has worked for Essentia since 2005, said he wasn't sure about the future of his own job on Monday afternoon. The union is still working with management on which jobs are being cut and asking for furloughs or other solutions.
![Around 50 vehicles drove down E Fourth St. in Duluth, MN as they participated in a caravan protesting the layoffs of healthcare workers by Essentia Health. ] ALEX KORMANN • alex.kormann@startribune.com Around 50 vehicles participated in a caravan protesting the layoffs of healthcare workers by Essentia Health. The caravan snaked around downtown and made multiple passes around the Essentia campus in Duluth, MN on June 1, 2020.](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/3JYCFLCYPKG3RWUDIWOXIJTLQE.jpg?&w=1080)
