Last month, nurses for 14 hospitals in Minneapolis/St. Paul, also represented by the MNA, approved a strike, but a contract agreement was reached before the strike occurred.
The recent strike approval will include more than 1,300 nurses from SMDC Medical Center and St. Luke’s Hospital, both in Duluth.
Contract negotiations are at a standstill over provisions in the nurses’ contracts that would allow them to refuse an unsafe assignment or temporarily close a unit with unsafe conditions. The nurses argue high patient-to-nurse ratios in the hospitals threaten patient safety.
“We can’t handle another three years of one nurse talking care of 8, 9 or even 12 patients at once,” Steve Strand, an RN at SMDC Medical Center, said in the release.
A specific date for the strike has not yet been set. National labor laws require hospitals receive at least 10 days notice before any strike.
Read the MNA release on the Duluth nurses’ strike.
Read more coverage on Minnesota nurses’ strikes:
– Minnesota Nurses Approve Contract, Avoid Strike
– Talks End Between Minnesota Hospitals and Nurses Association, Strike Scheduled for Thursday
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