Representatives of the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA), Minnesota Hospital and Healthcare Partnership (MHHP) and hospital officials from the seven metropolitan systems have agreed to meet jointly to negotiate major economic issues common to all bargaining tables.
Issues specific to each facility will continue to be bargained at separate tables, the negotiators said.
They said they expect talks to be completed by May 17, when MNA members are scheduled to vote on contracts for all Twin Cities-area facilities. Rejection could mean a strike by 9,000 nurses.
While bargaining continues, the nurses will conduct informational picketing and participate in a forum hosted by Senators Paul Wellstone and Mark Dayton, the union said.
Informational picketing
RNs at Abbott Northwestern Hospital will conduct informational picketing about working conditions and their impact on patient care on May 10 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. in front of the hospital at 26th St. and Chicago Ave. in Minneapolis. The informational action will consist of leafletting by off-duty nurses only, the union said.
"There are too many instances when hospitals are unsafe for patients and nurses today," said MNA Bargaining Unit Co-Chair Therese Copland. "Patients are not getting good basic care needs and nurses are getting injured due to lack of staff. We need to face this issue head on and change the environment now."
Public forum
The forum, under the theme "Heal Health Care Now," is the third in a series of public hearings on nursing-related health care concerns hosted by Wellstone and Dayton. It will be held Saturday, May 12, from 10:30 a.m. to noon in the auditorium of St. Paul Technical College, 235 Marshall Ave. It is open to the public.
Wellstone and Dayton have said they want to take an active role in addressing problems in the health care system. Topics to be discussed will include patient care, staffing levels, workloads and working conditions.
The date of the hearing, May 12, is significant in that it is the birthdate of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. May 12 traditionally concludes the celebration of Nurses Week, set aside to mark the distinctive contributions made by the nursing profession to health care.
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Representatives of the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA), Minnesota Hospital and Healthcare Partnership (MHHP) and hospital officials from the seven metropolitan systems have agreed to meet jointly to negotiate major economic issues common to all bargaining tables.
Issues specific to each facility will continue to be bargained at separate tables, the negotiators said.
They said they expect talks to be completed by May 17, when MNA members are scheduled to vote on contracts for all Twin Cities-area facilities. Rejection could mean a strike by 9,000 nurses.
While bargaining continues, the nurses will conduct informational picketing and participate in a forum hosted by Senators Paul Wellstone and Mark Dayton, the union said.
Informational picketing
RNs at Abbott Northwestern Hospital will conduct informational picketing about working conditions and their impact on patient care on May 10 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. in front of the hospital at 26th St. and Chicago Ave. in Minneapolis. The informational action will consist of leafletting by off-duty nurses only, the union said.
“There are too many instances when hospitals are unsafe for patients and nurses today,” said MNA Bargaining Unit Co-Chair Therese Copland. “Patients are not getting good basic care needs and nurses are getting injured due to lack of staff. We need to face this issue head on and change the environment now.”
Public forum
The forum, under the theme “Heal Health Care Now,” is the third in a series of public hearings on nursing-related health care concerns hosted by Wellstone and Dayton. It will be held Saturday, May 12, from 10:30 a.m. to noon in the auditorium of St. Paul Technical College, 235 Marshall Ave. It is open to the public.
Wellstone and Dayton have said they want to take an active role in addressing problems in the health care system. Topics to be discussed will include patient care, staffing levels, workloads and working conditions.
The date of the hearing, May 12, is significant in that it is the birthdate of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. May 12 traditionally concludes the celebration of Nurses Week, set aside to mark the distinctive contributions made by the nursing profession to health care.
Related article