NewsBriefs.REV_April 6/24/10 2:38 PM Page 6
NEWS BRIEFS
Twin Cities RNs Stage Country's
Largest-Ever Nursing Strike
MNA members are demanding advancements in nurse staffing, professional development, emergency preparedness and the
integration of technology. One key proposal
the union has put forward will improve
patient care by assuring adequate staffing
at all times, on all shifts, based on patient
acuity.
Negotiations broke down after hospitals
refused to discuss any of the improvements
nurses proposed, instead pushing numerous
concessions including cutting retirement
benefits by one-third for younger nurses.
"All along, our nurses have wanted to
avoid this situation, but the hospitals left us
no choice," Linda Hamilton, president of the
Minnesota Nurses Association and an RN at
Children's Hospital in Minneapolis, said in
announcing the one-day strike. "They literally
did not respond to a single one of our nurses'
proposals during more than two months of
negotiations."
MINNESOTA
either thunder, lightning,
rain nor threat of lockout could
deter 12,000 nurses in
Minnesota's Twin Cities from
striking for patient safety on
June 10. In the largest nurse walkout in
United States history, crowds of Minnesota
Nurses Association members in red T-shirts
formed determined picket lines outside 14
different area hospitals, pressuring hospital
administrators to negotiate in good faith on
a new contract for the RNs.
"Nurses are on fire! We're here to be
heard, and we want our safe staffing message
to get across," said Molly Ley, RN, as she picketed outside St. Joseph's Hospital in downtown St. Paul. Nearby, security guards tried in
vain to calm the noise from chanting picketers
and drivers honking horns in support.
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