WHAT'S AT STAKE
WHO
12,000 nurses represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association at 14 Twin Cities hospitals.
WHEN
The nurses say they will strike at 7 a.m. on July 6 unless contract talks produce an agreement.
AFFECTED HOSPITALS
Abbott Northwestern, Mercy, Unity, United and Phillips Eye Institute (all owned by Allina Hospitals and Clinics); St. John's, St. Joseph's and Bethesda (owned by HealthEast Care System); North Memorial; Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota; Park Nicollet Methodist; Fairview Southdale and the Riverside campus of University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview.
ISSUES
The nurses want formal nurse-to-patient staffing ratios in their contract, arguing that this would improve safety and patient care, and have proposed pay raises of 3.5 to 4 percent in each of three years. The hospitals say staffing ratios would raise health care costs without improving patient care; they have also proposed cutting health insurance and pension benefits, and pay increases of 0, 1 and 2 percent.
