Saying they are concerned about the safety of their patients, 106 registered nurses working at Fairmont Community Hospital and represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association have voted to strike.
The negotiating team will now meet to determine a date to issue the strike notice to the hospital, the union said. National Labor Relations Board law requires a 10-day waiting period between the date of notice and commencement of work stoppage.
'We are consistently working overtime and/or short-staffed and are deeply concerned about the safety of our patients,' said Negotiating Team Co-ChairMarsha Evans, RN. 'The nurses at this facility are tired because this employer plugs the staffing holes by requiring us to work overtime.?When nurses are working long hours at the bedside, we worry about our ability to give the best care our patients deserve.'
If the tactic of mandatory overtime hasn't worked, the hospital has been forced to close admissions to units due to lack of staff.? As recently as April 8, the critical care unit and the medical/surgical unit had to turn patients away because there were not enough nurses to staff the beds, the union said.
MNA negotiating team members assert that wages are a factor in the hospital's ineffectiveness in recruiting and retaining nurses to work in the facility.'Albert Lea, Austin, New Ulm and Mankato are more attractive to nurses because they offer better wage and benefit packages,' said Evans. 'We've had one position that has been filled twice since last fall because we couldn't keep people,' said negotiating team member Alveda Gustafson.
The offer by the hospital leaves starting nurses at Fairmont up to 70 cents per hour shy of competing hospital RN contracts, with senior nurses finding up to $1.23 per hour enough incentive to leave Fairmont for contracts within a 30-mile radius, the union said. And health care workers find little trade-off in insurance premiums that have skyrocketed 60 percent since December.? Fairmont nurses currently make an employee contribution of a $518 per month for family insurance.?The new offer still keeps the employee contribution upwards of $350 per month.
The bargaining unit had originally voted on the contract on March 7 and rejected the contract, but did not authorize a strike. The negotiating team returned to the bargaining table where the employer refused to budge on any contract terms.? 'They have a history of not listening to us,' said Evans. 'Perhaps now they will listen ? and believe this message that they need to invest in nursing for better patient care.'
For more information
Visit the Minnesota Nurses Association website, www.mnnurses.org
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Saying they are concerned about the safety of their patients, 106 registered nurses working at Fairmont Community Hospital and represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association have voted to strike.
The negotiating team will now meet to determine a date to issue the strike notice to the hospital, the union said. National Labor Relations Board law requires a 10-day waiting period between the date of notice and commencement of work stoppage.
‘We are consistently working overtime and/or short-staffed and are deeply concerned about the safety of our patients,’ said Negotiating Team Co-ChairMarsha Evans, RN. ‘The nurses at this facility are tired because this employer plugs the staffing holes by requiring us to work overtime.?When nurses are working long hours at the bedside, we worry about our ability to give the best care our patients deserve.’
If the tactic of mandatory overtime hasn’t worked, the hospital has been forced to close admissions to units due to lack of staff.? As recently as April 8, the critical care unit and the medical/surgical unit had to turn patients away because there were not enough nurses to staff the beds, the union said.
MNA negotiating team members assert that wages are a factor in the hospital’s ineffectiveness in recruiting and retaining nurses to work in the facility.’Albert Lea, Austin, New Ulm and Mankato are more attractive to nurses because they offer better wage and benefit packages,’ said Evans. ‘We’ve had one position that has been filled twice since last fall because we couldn’t keep people,’ said negotiating team member Alveda Gustafson.
The offer by the hospital leaves starting nurses at Fairmont up to 70 cents per hour shy of competing hospital RN contracts, with senior nurses finding up to $1.23 per hour enough incentive to leave Fairmont for contracts within a 30-mile radius, the union said. And health care workers find little trade-off in insurance premiums that have skyrocketed 60 percent since December.? Fairmont nurses currently make an employee contribution of a $518 per month for family insurance.?The new offer still keeps the employee contribution upwards of $350 per month.
The bargaining unit had originally voted on the contract on March 7 and rejected the contract, but did not authorize a strike. The negotiating team returned to the bargaining table where the employer refused to budge on any contract terms.? ‘They have a history of not listening to us,’ said Evans. ‘Perhaps now they will listen ? and believe this message that they need to invest in nursing for better patient care.’
For more information
Visit the Minnesota Nurses Association website, www.mnnurses.org