Seven notes:
1. More than 70 hospital and nursing home employees who are members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa in October voted to authorize the strike, according to an Oct. 29 news release from the union shared with Becker’s.
2. Union members and the hospital have been bargaining since August over wages and additional PTO or shift bonuses but “remain distant” on the issues, the release said.
3. The union is also advocating for hospital workers to receive the same holiday pay that nursing home workers will get as part of changes implemented by the state’s Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board.
4. The previous contract expired Sept. 30, and the parties are negotiating a new three-year agreement, according to an Oct. 29 news release from Duluth, Minn.-based Essentia Health.
5. The strike notice was issued after two negotiating sessions. Essentia called it premature, stating the focus should be on making bargaining progress, according to its release.
6. Essentia stated that the union’s request for a 55% wage increase over three years “is not financially sustainable,” citing financial challenges in rural areas with a higher proportion of patients on government insurance.
7. A mediation session is set for Nov. 13.
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