By LINDSEY FENNER
Over 15,000 nurses represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) went on a three-day unfair labor practices strike from September 12 to 14 at sixteen hospitals around the Twin Cities and Northern Minnesota, including two in the Phillips neighborhood. The union believes this was the largest strike of private-sector nurses in U.S. history. Nurses cited safety and short staffing as their main concerns.
Picket lines at Abbott Northwestern and Children’s Hospital were a sea of support for striking nurses, with a solidarity rally organized by SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa at Abbott Northwestern on Wednesday, September 14. Abbott Mental Health and Central Lab workers represented by SEIU have also been in contract negotiations with many of the same workplace concerns as nurses. The nurses’ union and hospitals have been in contract negotiations since March, with the nurses’ collective bargaining agreement expiring at the end of May. Nurses at Abbott Northwestern last went on strike in 2016, with a one-week strike in June of that year, and a 37 day strike later that fall.
According to the Union, hospitals canceled negotiations during the strike. Contract negotiations were expected to resume after the strike ended on September 14.
Nurses were right there on the front line against the contagion from day one, risking their lives well before vaccinations. That should feel compelled to strike is disgraceful.