Northwoods Socialist Collective

Today was the 15th and last day of the Minnesota Nurses Association strike at Essentia Health.  Picketing stopped today at noon, and workers will begin returning to work tomorrow. The union held a press conference today at 10am at the 2nd Street picket line.  At it, the union announced that both the striking Clinic RNs and Advance Practice Providers voted to return to work.  This moves comes after movement by Essentia in which the company agreed to allow the different Clinics to bargain together, and agreed to schedule a number of additional negotiation days in the coming weeks.  Contract negotiations will continue, and the union stressed that they view the fight as an ongoing one. You can view footage of the MNA press conference at this link: https://www.facebook.com/MinnesotaNurses/videos/1716031602607105 We plan on writing a longer piece summarizing the strike and what comes next in the days ahead.  And we'll be sure to post any additional statements from the...

On any given day, 190,600 women and girls are incarcerated in the United States . Over 60,000 women are detained pretrial , presumed innocent, caged in US jails simply because they cannot afford to pay bail. Their average yearly income is just $11,000. Over 66% are mothers with minor children. These facts are taken from the website: https://lethergohome.org/   It was set up in conjunction with musician Fiona Apple, who wrote a song called “Let Her Go Home” to bring attention to this terrible situation. We urge our readers to check out the website and the music video:

A supervisor at Essentia Health has been making physical threats towards striking workers. Despite the company having been repeatedly made aware of the numerous threats, to date they have taken no action. So this afternoon a group of nurses marched into the Administration Office to deliver a message that this will not be tolerated. Of course nobody from the Administration would come out of their office, so the workers delivered their message to the security guards that Essentia sent instead. The Minnesota Nurses Association plans on filing charges with the National Labor Relations Board, and have issued a press release on the situation.  Here is the link for it:  Clinic RNs and Advance Practice Providers went out on strike at Essentia Health two weeks ago, and so far Essentia has shown a callous disregard for their workers, dragging their feet in their negotiations with the Clinic RNs for over an entire year, and refusing to even being negotiations with the Advance Pr...

The MNA strike at Essentia Health is entering its second week.  On July 8 the 300 Clinic RNs at the 1st Street, 2nd Street and 3rd Street Clinics in Duluth went out on strike.  And on July 10 the 400 Advance Practice Providers in the entire Eastern Market of Essentia also went out on strike.  Since then they have been picketing at multiple sites every day, with hundreds of workers and supporters walking the lines. Both groups of workers unionized more than a year ago, but still do not have a union contract because of Essentia's stalling tactics.    On our facebook and instagram pages we have been posting daily photos/updates of the pickets.  Starting today though the MNA has reorganized the times and locations of their pickets.  Going forward they will be prioritizing picketing at the main Essentia campuses in Duluth and in Superior, and their weekday pickets will run from 7am to 3:30pm.

Below is a press release issued by the Minnesota Nurses Association.  While they have reached tentative agreements for the RNs at Aspirus and the Essentia Hospital, two strikes are still planned. The Essentia Clinic RNs are still set to go on strike on July 8, and the Essentia Advance Practice Providers on July 10.  MNA Statement: After countless hours at the bargaining table, Essentia Twin Ports acute care hospital nurses reached a tentative agreement with their employer. As part of the settlement, Essentia has resolved its Unfair Labor Practices with the nurses, averting a strike. Nurses will vote whether to ratify the agreement in the coming weeks.

The Minnesota Nurses Association   filed a 10 day notice this past Friday that nurses represented by the union will be going out on strike against Essentia Health Aspirus/St. Luke's starting on July 8 at 7am. This is an Unfair Labor Practices strike that comes in the context of a contract fight in which both employers are refusing to agree to safe staffing levels and fair compensation.  On Monday, MNA filed an additional 10 day strike notice on behalf of the Advance Practice Providers (Physician Assistants and Certified Nurses Practitioners) that they represent at Essentia that they will also be going out on strike on July 10.