National Nurses United

NewsBriefs_Oct Alt 2/25/10 2:56 PM Page 7 "Hospitals want to use a lot more assistive personnel to do nursing work," said Hamilton. "The patient ends up with piecemeal care." Contracts for 14 hospitals in the Twin Cities come due on May 31; seven in northeast Minnesota (including the Duluth area) expire on June 30. Additional bargaining units scattered throughout the state will have their contracts expire at various times this year.  In all, the year's contract negotiations will affect 80 percent of the MNA's membership. With hospitals spooked by potential cuts in state aid and seeking to pass Left, Minnesota those costs on Nurses Association's to nurses—and Contract Action Team. nurses equally Below, nurses protest cuts determined to to state health benefits. defend themselves and their patients— it's clear that a major battle is brewing in the state. The nurses are preparing for negotiations by holding citywide all-nurse meetings and workshops on the pension benefit. MNA is strengthening ties with community organizations through its campaign against cuts to state medical benefits that target Minnesota's poorest residents. Support from nurses in other parts of the country will greatly solidify MNA's position, said Hamilton. "The employers are negotiating on a national basis and setting their agenda, and we need to do that, too." The Twin Cities are the site of the nation's largest mass nursing strike in 1984, when 6,000 nurses walked the picket lines to defend seniority rights. —Jan Rabbers Fighting Benefit Cuts for Minnesota's Most Vulnerable MNA nurses have played a leading role in opposing plans by Governor Tim Pawlenty to cut medical benefits for low-income Minnesotans. Pawlenty slashed the entire General Assistance Medical Care program, which provides healthcare to 85,000 of the poorest Minnesotans, from the state budget last year, a change that's set to take effect April 1. The governor proposed transferring those enrollees to another state plan, MinnesotaCare. But that plan requires premiums that could be unaffordable to GAMC enrollees, many of whom are homeless or mentally ill. In addition, the extra burden would bankrupt MinnesotaCare within a year, leaving coverage for all participants in jeopardy. Hundreds of nurses and community members rallied at the state Capitol on the legislature's opening day February 3, urging legislators to pass a bill reversing the cuts. JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2010 W W W. N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G N AT I O N A L N U R S E 7

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