Members of the Minnesota Nurses Association are ready to strike at 5:30 a.m. June 1 if last-minute negotiations with seven hospitals do not result in agreements.

"Right now we're ready to go on strike and maybe tomorrow we'll be pleasantly surprised before we have to go to the picketline," said David Olson, a nurse at Abbott Northwestern, one of three Allina hospitals that have not yet settled. He spoke after a support rally Thursday night at a hockey arena in St. Paul.

Federal mediators called negotiators together May 31 to try to avert a strike by about 5,600 nurses at Abbott Northwestern, Fairview-Riverside and Phillips Eye Institute in Minneapolis, Fairview Southdale in Edina, Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park, Mercy in Coon Rapids, and United in St. Paul.

Children's Hospitals and Clinics, which employs 1,200 registered nurses at its locations in St. Paul and Minneapolis, reached a deal with its nurses at about 4 a.m. Thursday. They are scheduled to vote on the agreement today. A tentative agreement also was reached at three HealthEast hospitals -- St. John's in Maplewood and St. Joseph's and Bethesda Rehabilitation in St. Paul. Nurses were scheduled to vote on that agreement Thursday but results have not yet been released.

Elected officials back nurses
A large line-up of elected officials and labor leaders spoke in support of the nurses at a rally Thursday night at Aldrich hockey arena in St. Paul.

"I come here to thank you for taking care of our loved ones and I come here to thank you for taking care of Minnesotans," U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone told the crowd. Many nurses brought spouses and family members and held up signs reading "I Believe Nurses - Safe Care Now."

"You have the support of the public . . ." Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch told the nurses. "People want you to succeed."

Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bernard Brommer and International Brotherhood of Teamsters Secretary-Treasurer Tom Keegel pledged the support of other union members if nurses are forced to strike. "We're with you," Brommer told them.

Sending a message
Television news crews, photographers and reporters swarmed the rally. Nurses interviewed afterwards said they believe their message is getting out. A number of news articles have followed nurses through workdays and overtime shifts.

"Maybe the public is really not aware, unless they've been a patient recently, exactly what it is like in a hospital setting," said Therese Bilse-Kraft, an eight-year veteran employed at Abbott Northwestern.

Olson said the key issue in the negotiations is "not wages. It's the control of nursing practices." The high patient-to-staff ratio has created a dangerous situation for both patients and staff, he said.

For more information and updates on bargaining

Visit the MNA website: http://www.mnnurses.org

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