Duluth nurses vote Wednesday whether to authorize strike

[Omaha Steve]

16 August 2010

DULUTH - After months of negotiations and a refusal by SMDC Medical Center business executives to put their rhetoric about patient safety issues into writing, more than 900 SMDC nurses are being encouraged to vote Wednesday to reject the administration's contract offer and instead authorize a one-day strike.

"The bottom line is, the executives at the bargaining table have made it clear to us that management does not trust its nurses with the well-being and safety of our patients," said Steve Strand, an RN at SMDC. "It's ironic considering nurses are the most trusted professionals in the United States. And we are not asking for anything costly, outrageous or unusual."

The Duluth RNs are members of the Minnesota Nurses Association.

In addition to the 900 nurses at SMDC, 420 RNs at St. Luke's Hospital in Duluth are also in the midst of contract bargaining and so far have been unable to reach an agreement. While SMDC nurses have no more negotiating sessions scheduled, St. Luke's RNs will meet one final time with management Aug. 16 to try and work out an agreement. Both groups of nurses will vote on Aug. 18 to either ratify their contract offers or else authorize a one-day strike at each facility.

Duluth RNs are seeking the same contractual rights to advocate for their patients that Twin Cities nurses already have: First, to be allowed to temporarily close a hospital unit when it is no longer safe to admit additional patients. Second, to be able to refuse additional patient assignments when a nurse’s patient load has reached an unsafe level.

"Business executives at SMDC are refusing to allow nurses to do our duty – as dictated by the Minnesota Board of Nursing and our profession itself – of advocating for our patients," Strand said. "What Duluth Nurses are asking for is reasonable, and in our negotiations we attempted to bargain in good faith to implement some concessions that would allow the cost to be minimized for the changes necessary. Should Nurses in the Northland be treated differently than our counterparts in the Twin Cities when it comes to safety issues? Should our patients, for that matter?"

FULL story at link.