Negotiators for SEIU Local 113 are recommending that 1,500 workers at 27 HealthPartners clinics in the Twin Cities reject the company's final contract offer because it increases health insurance costs for them and their families.

Voting is scheduled for Thursday at the Holiday Inn in Arden Hills. During a 24-hour negotiating session that continued past the contract's expiration at midnight Monday, "we thought we were moving toward an agreement with no takebacks," said Rick Varco, communications director for Local 113.

"But the company came back with a final offer that included takebacks and other proposals that increase the cost of health care for our members," he said. "That's not what we're about."

"This union is committed to fully paid health insurance for all health-care workers," Julie Schnell, Local 113 president, said in a statement. "Our members at HealthPartners have said they will not give up affordable health care they have won in the past and deserve in the future."

Strike preparations under way
"We want an agreement, but we aren't going backwards," said Kevin Kuehn, chief negotiator for Local 113, which represents a wide range of service, technical and advanced professional workers at Health Partners clinics ? everyone from building engineers to pharmacists to psychotherapists.

Kuehn said that if members reject the HealthPartners offer, any strike first would require additional membership authorization, then a 10-day "cooling off" period.

Nonetheless, more than 100 members of the local's Contract Action Team met Jan. 27 for strike preparations.

Some said that members of Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 12, which represents clerical workers at HealthPartners, have promised to honor SEIU picket lines in the event of a strike.

Trying to prevent erosion of benefits
SEIU negotiators would not release details of the HealthPartners offer, but key issues in the talks have been insurance costs, longevity pay, and wage parity with other health-care workers.

HealthPartners did drop earlier attempts to raise the monthly health insurance premiums that members pay, Varco said, but its final offer still jacks up co-pays for brand-name prescription drugs and requires ? for the first time ? co-payments for office visits.

The health insurance fight is vital because of the precedent it sets for other SEIU negotiations, Kuehn said.

"HealthPartners workers right now have the lowest health-care premiums in the city. If they lose this contract, other hospitals will tear our members to shreds. HealthPartners sets the bar, and we can't let them lower it."

Disparities in pay
Meanwhile, pay at HealthPartners is failing to keep pace with compensation offered by other health-care providers, said Michele Emerson, a dental hygienist in Maplewood and also a member of the union negotiating committee. The disparity is especially evident for pharmacists, many of whom could earn more at local drugstores, she said. "Our pharmacist wage scale is way out of line with the community standard," Emerson said.

SEIU negotiators have been fighting off a series of concessions sought by HealthPartners, Kuehn said, including proposed reductions in paid vacation days, guaranteed holidays and overtime eligibility. Negotiators also have clarified language regarding layoffs and subcontracting.

While the prospect of a walkout is daunting, Contract Action Team members said they had no hesitation about striking if they don't get a fair offer.

"I am not afraid of going on strike," said Nancy Wickoren, a nurse at Woodbury Medical. "If we lose anything now, we won't get it back."

Meanwhile, members have been getting their message across in a variety of other ways, including placing signs in car windows, wearing buttons on the job, and delivering more than 1,000 postcards to company negotiators. "HealthPartners needs to know that we are prepared to go back to our membership, and help them in taking the next step," Kuehn said.

Compiled by Union Advocate editor Michael Kuchta, staff intern Jeff Zethmayr and Workday Minnesota editor Barb Kucera.

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