Nurses begin voting on new contracts at 15 hospitals in Twin Cities, Duluth-Superior

As many as 15-thousand nurses are voting today (Fri),  Monday and Tuesday on new contracts with 15 hospitals in the Twin Cities and Duluth-Superior:

Nurses at Allina, Children’s, M Health Fairview, North Memorial and Methodist in the Twin Cities would receive 18 percent raises over three years; Essentia and Saint Luke’s in Duluth, 17 percent plus other bonuses.  Union leaders are recommending a “yes” vote. They say the tentative contracts also include “unprecedented language… to address chronic understaffing in our hospitals for the first time in history.”  Vote results will announced next Wednesday, early afternoon.

Nurses union negotiators at Saint Luke’s Lake View Hospital in Two Harbors have not yet reached a tentative agreement, but Thursday withdrew their December 11th strike notice “in the hopes that management will start collaborating with nurses and take these negotiations seriously.”  Hospital officials were not immediately reachable for comment.