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Hundreds of Nurses Take to the Streets to Protest Essentia & Aspirus

 This past Wednesday hundreds of nurses took the streets of Duluth to demand safe staffing levels and fair compensation.  Pickets were held in front of the Aspirus St. Luke's Hospital from 8am to noon and in front of the Essentia St. Mary's Hospital from 2 to 6pm.  

The nurses are members of the Minnesota Nurses Association, and they are currently locked in tough contract negotiations with both employers.  For years, the MNA has been fighting to get both companies to commit to hiring enough staff to better guarantee patient safety, something that is seriously threatened by the dramatic staff reductions and workload increases that are becoming the norm across the healthcare industry.  And they also point out that the refusal to offer competitive wages and benefits stands in stark contract to the astronomical pay increases the CEOs and other top brass are giving themselves (In 2022, Essentia CEO David Herman received $3.07 million in compensation!). 

The MNA's contracts at Essentia and Aspirus will expire at the end of the month, opening up a possibility of a strike if there isn't significant movement at the negotiating table on the part of employers.  That looks unlikely, especially given that Essentia's response to Wednesday's pickets was to file a frivolous complaint to the NLRB claiming the pickets show the union is negotiating in "bad faith".  Essentia's practice of holding down wages and staffing levels were a big part of the reason behind this winter's SEIU strike at Essentia's hospital in Deer River. 

At the same time, the MNA and Essentia are battling over the unionization of providers at that company last year.  To date Essentia has refused to enter into negotiations with doctors and other providers, forcing the union to file formal charges with the National Labor Relations Board.  This comes on the heels of Essentia recently having been found guilty of labor law violations in connection with the MNA's unionization of RNs at the 1st Street Duluth Clinic.  Essentia is proving to be a chronic labor law violator, despite it's pretty worded press releases to the contrary. 

We urge our readers to support the union in their just fight.  You can stay in the loop by following the MNA's website.  And we'll be sure to let folks know about any future ways that you can stand in solidarity with healthcare workers. 

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