Minnesota Nurses Association Rejects Latest Contract From Allina Health

A majority of the striking nurses represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association have voted to reject the latest contract by Allina Health.

Nurses from Abbott Northwestern, Mercy, Phillips Eye Institute, United, and Unity hospitals will continue their open-ended strike.

The nurses’ negotiating team decided to bring Allina’s proposal they received at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 29, to a member vote, but the team did not issue a recommendation on whether to vote yes or no, according to a news release.

“In order to get some sort of monetary safety net to protect nurses moving to Allina’s high-deductible health plans, they were asking us to give more away,” said Abbott Northwestern Hospital Registered Nurse and Negotiating Team Member Angela Becchetti in a statement.

“The nurses saw through that.”

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The vote result means the strike will continue, and both sides will have to return to the bargaining table to hammer out a deal. There are no plans at this time when that could happen.

The Star Tribune reported that the nurses' walkout over health benefits, staffing and safety concerns may go down as the longest nursing strike in Minnesota history.

“If Allina felt that nurses would accept anything just to return to work in October and get our health insurance back, they were mistaken,” Becchetti said.

“This vote should tell Allina that nurses are strong and willing to hold out for a contract that respects their sacrifice and their profession.”

In a statement, Allina said that "Our top priority is continuing to provide the level of high-quality care that our staff and replacement nurses have been providing since Sept. 5."

"The union has rejected this proposal, and now they must come back with a proposal that moves us toward an agreement. Allina Health is prepared to return to the negotiating table as soon as the union informs us that they have a proposal intended to do that. Our hope is that we can start focusing on issues in ways that help us reach agreement, rather than driving us farther apart."

"Allina Health will continue to seek solutions to this and other challenges that help us transform health care for the good of our patients and the communities we serve. That means focusing on models that are sustainable for the long term, and help all of us focus on the meaningful work that makes a positive difference in our patients' lives. Our latest proposal was consistent with that approach. We hope the union will work with us to achieve an outcome that is in the best long-term interests of its members and the communities we collectively serve."

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