15K Nurses Go On Strike In Minnesota: Here's What To Know

MINNESOTA — Approximately 15,000 Minnesota nurses officially went on strike at 7 a.m. Monday. The strike is taking place after hospital administrators and union representatives were unable to agree on a new contract.

The strike will last for three days and is the largest private-sector nurses’ strike in U.S. history, according to the Minnesota Nurses Association.

It is also the first time that Twin Cities and Twin Ports nurses have gone out on strike together.

"Hospital executives with million-dollar salaries have created a crisis of retention and care in our healthcare system, as more nurses are leaving the bedside, putting quality patient care at risk," Mary Turner, an RN at North Memorial Hospital and the president of the MNA, said in a statement earlier this month.

"Nurses do not take this decision lightly, but we are determined to take a stand at the bargaining table, and on the sidewalk if necessary, to put patients before profits in our hospitals."

Negotiations between nurses and hospital executives began in March, with the issues of wages, understaffing and nurse retention taking center stage.

Nurses demanded a 30 percent increase in pay, while hospitals have offered up to 12 percent.

The nurse union argues that without a substantial increase in compensation, the high nurse turnover rate will only get worse. Hospital administrators say the union's demands are unrealistic and not financially possible.

Administrators say that hospitals will remain open during the strike. The hospitals affected have hired 2,800 replacement nurses, reduced patient levels, and rescheduled some elective surgeries.

Also read: Pay Disparity? Union Releases Data On MN Hospital CEO vs. Nurse Pay

The following 16 hospitals will be impacted by the strike:

• Riverside
• Southdale
• St. Joseph’s
• St. John’s
• St. Mary’s Duluth
• St. Mary’s Superior
• Essentia Moose Lake
• Methodist
• Abbott Northwestern
• Mercy
• United
• Unity
• Children’s Minneapolis
• Children’s St. Paul
• North Memorial
• St. Luke’s

The Twin Cities Hospitals Group — which represents Methodist, North Memorial, Fairview, and Children's Hospitals — sent Patch the following statement on Sept. 1:

We are disappointed the nurses’ union today has rushed into an intent to strike notification and refuses to exhaust all available means to avoid potential disruption to patient care including our repeated offers of an outside mediator. Mediation was successfully used in previous contract talks and we believe it represents a practical way to bring focus and clarity to the negotiations. We encourage the nurses’ union and its supporters to focus on the pathways we’ve successfully used in the past.

We understand the past two years have been hard on everyone in health care. Our care teams all worked exceptionally hard to care for patients and care for each other. Today, our non-profit hospitals continue to recover financially from the COVID-19 pandemic and the changes the pandemic brought to the workforce and our community. Despite the financial challenges to our hospitals, we are proud to have offered our nurses the largest wage increases in 15 years while agreeing to keep nurses’ benefits unchanged for the life of the contract. The nurses’ union continued demands for wage increases of more than 30 percent remain unreasonable, unrealistic and unaffordable.

It is important for the public to note: our hospitals are open and will remain open to serve the community. We will continue our efforts at the negotiating table to reach reasonable agreements and avoid any actions that would interrupt patient care. We assume the union will do the same. We remain committed to serving our community and keeping our focus on the patients we serve.

Reporting from the Associated Press was used in this story.