Allina Nurses Vote to Strike Again

BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. -- Thousands of nurses at five Allina Health hospitals in the Twin Cities voted Thursday not to accept a new contract from Allina Health and will begin to plan an open-ended strike.

Allina and its nurses have been in contract talks since February.
The main sticking points are health care benefits and work place safety improvements.

Allina wants its nurses on its corporate health plan. It has higher deductibles, but Allina says it would save $10 million a year.

"This is not where we wanted to go. We want to be in the hospitals taking care of our patients. It's very important to us. This is a last resort. We have done everything we can to try to move these negotiations along and it just hasn't worked,” says Gail Olson, RN at Unity Hospital and Spokesperson for MNA.

Allina released a statement Thursday night:
"We are disappointed by the outcome of today's vote. Allina Health put a fair compromise offer on the table that preserves choice for our nurses by retaining the two most popular nurse-only insurance plans. While the union continues to focus on another unnecessary strike... Allina Health will continue to focus on providing high quality care to our communities.”

The strike is not a done deal. The union is required to provide a 10-day notice to Allina prior to engaging in a strike, but it's likely a federal mediator will call both sides back to the bargaining table one last time to try to come to an agreement.

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