In fight with Allina over health insurance, nurses not backing down

May 18, 2016 by
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Nurses stage informational picketing outside Allina Commons in Minneapolis.

 

In contract negotiations with Allina, union nurses are standing together to defend their health insurance. And outside the health care provider’s Minneapolis headquarters today, the community showed it’s standing with nurses.

Informational picketing of Allina Commons drew hundreds of nurses, who arrived in busloads from five metro-area Allina facilities. Supporters from the community, including members of several other unions, also walked the picket line in solidarity.

Bill McCarthy, president of the 300,000-member Minnesota AFL-CIO, assured Allina nurses they are not fighting alone. “Our message to Allina,” McCarthy said, “is take care of the nurses who take care of you.”

[Sign a petition in support of nurses at http://www.nursesneedcare2.com.]

Allina opened contract talks with about 5,000 nurses at Unity, United, Abbott Northwestern and Mercy hospitals, as well as Phillips Eye Institute, in February. Three bargaining sessions, including one tomorrow, are scheduled before the nurses’ current contract expires June 1.

web.MNA-Allina-vertical‘It ain’t about money’

From the outset, union leaders say, Allina has sought to eliminate four union-sponsored health insurance plans and move all nurses into Allina’s “core” plans, which offer lower premiums but significantly higher deductibles, co-pays and out-of-pocket costs. Allina says the move would save $10 million, according to Minnesota Nurses Association Director Rose Roach.

“We’ve asked Allina, is the company in trouble?” Roach said during the rally. “Do we need to cut costs to pay the rent or keep the lights on? They say no, the company’s doing just fine.”

“So don’t kid yourself, it ain’t about money,” Roach added. “They’re stashing money in investment portfolios and offshore accounts, but they want you to go without good health care plans. We have fought hard for those benefits that we have in the contract, and we’re not going to let them slip away.”

Two members of the MNA’s bargaining team also spoke at the rally, shedding light on the importance of keeping the union-sponsored plans.

Angela Becchetti, a nurse at Abbott Northwestern said she experienced complications both times she gave birth, resulting in medical bills in excess of $90,000. Under Allina’s health plans, Becchetti’s family would have paid about $12,000 in out-of-pocket costs, she said.

“I would have had to come back to work sooner,” Becchetti said. “I could not have spent time with my family during that critical time.”

Becchetti’s colleague at Abbott Northwestern, Margaret Blissenbach, called herself “a living example of why we must preserve our MNA insurance plans.” A cancer survivor, Blissenbach’s treatment included prescriptions that cost over $20,000 per dosage.

“Our insurance plan, thanks to our union, has been a life-saver for me,” Blissenbach said. “Ask yourself, ‘Would a $10,000 or even a $20,000 health spending account mean anything if one of your drugs alone cost $23,000?”

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MNA President Mary Turner speaks on the informational picket line outside Allina Commons.

 

‘Going rogue’

Allina nurses voted overwhelmingly to reject the company’s proposal to eliminate the MNA plans in February, but the provider hasn’t let go of the demand at the bargaining table since then.

That puts Allina on something of an island among Twin Cities hospital systems. Allina dropped out of metro-wide negotiations that resulted in a new contract for about 7,000 nurses at five hospital systems earlier this year – a contract that includes MNA insurance options.

“This is a case of Allina going rogue,” MNA President Mary Turner, a nurse at North Memorial in Robbinsdale, said.

Whether the display of solidarity among nurses and the community convinces Allina to soften its stance at the bargaining table remains to be seen, but Pastor Jonathan Zielske of Salem English Lutheran Church said nurses won’t have any trouble winning public support in their fight for quality insurance options.

“Allina is getting out of alignment with their own name, their own calling,” Zielske said. “They’re supposed to be all about health.”

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Community backs St. Paul teachers’ call for progress in contract talks

February 17, 2016 by
Members of the St. Paul Federation of Teachers rally with supporters before walking into the Teachers at American Indian Magnet School in St. Paul.

Members of the St. Paul Federation of Teachers rally with supporters before walking into the Teachers at American Indian Magnet School in St. Paul.

 

Parents, students and community members rallied with members of the St. Paul Federation of Teachers outside school buildings across the city this morning, demanding progress in contract talks between SPFT and the St. Paul Public Schools, scheduled to resume tomorrow.

Wearing hats and scarves in SPFT’s signature red, participants chanted and carried signs expressing support for the teachers’ bargaining priorities, including measures to improve school climate, reduce class sizes and beef up staffing among school nurses, librarians, social workers and other support positions.

“I wouldn’t be out here if it was just about financial issues,” Laurel Kuhner Berker said outside American Indian Magnet School, where she teaches. “I’m out here because these issues affect the kids.”

SPFT President Denise Rodriguez outlined teachers’ bargaining priorities in a speech to supporters outside American Indian Magnet:

 

 

Other teachers outside American Indian Magnet expressed concern that the district already is disregarding some provisions of SPFT’s existing contract.

Kuhner Berker’s fifth-grade class has 30 students – up from 23 last year – and is one of four classrooms in the building with enrollments that exceed the contractual limits. The school also does not have the required number of kindergarten aides, she said.

“This is about fairness,” said middle-school teacher Bob Otto, also a parent of three children in the district. “We want a quality education for all children.”

Walk-in events took place at more than 50 school sites across the district, according to SPFT. Find photos from rallies outside American Indian Magnet and St. Paul Johnson High School below:

SPFT President Denise Rodriguez will retire June 12.
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Still waiting on back pay, former workers spoil grocer’s grand reopening

May 6, 2015 by
Workers hold informational picketing outside Victoria's Market, formerly Fresh Seasons Market.

Workers hold informational picketing outside Victoria’s Market, formerly Fresh Seasons Market.

When Fresh Seasons Markets in Victoria and Glen Lake closed a year ago, owner Tom Wartman failed to pay his employees the vacation and personal-holiday pay they had earned, their union alleges.

Local 653 of the United Food and Commercial Workers has taken legal action to recoup workers’ pay, and the union’s Health, Welfare and Pension Fund trustees are suing Fresh Seasons to recover benefit contributions never paid.

In the meantime, Wartman has teamed with local investors who own the Victoria and Glen Lake properties to reopen the stores under new names: Victoria’s Market and Glen Lake’s Market.

It’s a move Wartman’s former employees aren’t watching silently.

As the stores opened their doors this month, workers and their supporters were on hand to distribute fliers denouncing Wartman’s failure to pay them what they’re owed, Local 653 President Matt Utecht said in a public letter.

“If Tom Wartman wants the stores to reopen with community support, he should start by doing right by those community members who used to work for him,” Utecht said.

Click here to read Utecht’s full letter.

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Pilots picket at MSP, protest Sun Country’s ‘unacceptable’ offer

April 24, 2015 by

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In shifts of about 50, Sun Country pilots and their colleagues from other airlines marched silently in single file outside Terminal 2 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport this afternoon.

The informational picket, attended by virtually all of Sun Country’s 247 active pilots who were not flying or in training, put the Minnesota-based airline on notice that its pilots remain committed to changing their status as the lowest-paid 737 pilots in the nation.

That is, Sun Country pilots are 100 percent committed.

That’s the level of support they showed in a vote two months ago authorizing their union, the Air Line Pilots Association, to call a strike if necessary.

ALPA members stage informational picketing outside Terminal 2 at MSP.

ALPA members stage informational picketing outside Terminal 2 at MSP.

Pilots have been in negotiations with Sun Country since their contract became amendable in April 2010, and the two sides began sessions with the National Mediation Board two years later.

With their negotiations stuck in a holding pattern, Sun Country pilots have only fallen further behind their peers in the industry. Capt. Jake Yockers, spokesperson for the Sun Country ALPA unit, said Sun Country pilots now earn 30 percent below the average pay for 737 pilots.

In negotiations, ALPA has proposed raising pilots’ pay up to the industry average gradually over the course of a new five-year contract. But Sun Country answered with a proposal that would keep pilots’ wages near the bottom of the industry, Yockers said.

“It is unacceptable,” he said. “We’re not asking for Delta wages. We’re not asking for Southwest wages. We’re just asking for the average wage.”

The airline’s ownership group, Yockers noted, has turned a profit every year since purchasing Sun Country in July 2011. The airline has doubled in size, added more routes and strengthened its position in the market. But its pilots, so far, have been left out of the gains.

“The employees have been there for the company in the bad times,” Yockers said. “We think that loyalty needs to be rewarded in the good times.”

In a press release, Capt. Brian Roseen, chairman of Sun Country’s ALPA Master Executive Council, said pilots are hopeful of reaching an agreement with the airline, but prepared “to do everything the law allows to lift ourselves up from the bottom of the industry.”

In order to go on strike, the NMB would have to declare that additional mediation efforts would not be productive and extend an offer to arbitrate the dispute. If either side declines arbitration, the parties enter a 30-day “cooling off” period, after which they are free to exercise “self-help” – in the pilots’ case, a strike.

A strike is not in either side’s best interest, pilots say.

“We don’t want a strike; we want a deal,” Yockers said. “We want to negotiate, and we’ll be ready with a response to the company’s proposal.”

Pilots from United, Delta, FedEx Express, Compass, Endeavor Air and other ALPA pilot groups joined the informational picket in solidarity with Sun Country pilots.

Said Capt. Paul Jackson, president of the Southwest Air Line Pilots Association: “Low fares do not have to equal low wages in our industry, and we fully support our friends at Sun Country in seeking a fair agreement.”

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As talks stall, Cambridge nurses rally for safe care

November 20, 2014 by
Nurses stage informational picketing outside Cambridge Medical Center, raising awareness of staffing cuts that, nurses say, threaten patient safety.

Nurses stage informational picketing outside Cambridge Medical Center, raising awareness of staffing cuts that, they say, threaten patient safety.

CAMBRIDGE – Nurses at Cambridge Medical Center picketed the hospital today, warning the public that looming staff cuts pose a threat to patient safety.

Members of the Minnesota Nurses Association called on Allina Health, which operates the Cambridge facility, to put patients over profits in contract negotiations that began Sept. 30, when management opened the nurses’ contract.

The hospital is seeking greater flexibility in determining nurses’ schedules, looking to eliminate “block scheduling” and contract language that uses seniority to determine weekend shifts.

But nurses at the picket said the hospital hasn’t offered anything in return. Instead, management announced plans to lay off at least five nurses in January 2015 and reduce hours for 95 percent of those who remain.

Katie Williams is a member of the MNA's negotiating team at Cambridge Medical Center.

Katie Williams is a member of the MNA’s negotiating team at Cambridge Medical Center.

Katie Williams, a registered nurse in the maternity unit and member of the MNA’s negotiations team, said fewer nurses taking care of more patients at one time takes away nurses’ ability to provide patients the care they deserve. Staffing in her unit, she said, will drop from 17 nurses per day, spread over three shifts, down to 11.

“It’s way too big a cut,” Williams said. “As nurses, we need to be able to take care of our patients safely. That’s why we’re here today.”

Members of the community have taken note of nurses’ concerns. Many joined the picket line this afternoon and took part in a vigil for safe patient care later in the evening.

Nurses have taken an active role in sharing their concerns about patient safety – and their position in contract talks – with the public, going door-to-door to talk with residents of Cambridge and neighboring Isanti.

Residents, in turn, are showing their support for nurses by putting up lawn signs – more than 200 in the area – backing the nurses’ contract campaign.

Leanne Reichel, a emergency room nurse with 27 years of experience at Cambridge Medical Center, said nurses decided to take up the door-to-door canvass after growing tired of reading management’s public-relations spin in their community newspapers.

“I’ve been through a lot of these contract negotiations, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Reichel said. “We’ve always managed to work through it, to work with our administration.

“They say they want flexibility, but they don’t want to work with the provisions that already exist in our contract at all. It’s just whatever they want, they’re trying to take it.”

The two sides have met three times since the hospital opened nurses’ contract Sept. 30, and a mediation session is scheduled for Dec. 4. Williams is not optimistic management will change its approach.

“They’re not willing to give,” she said. “They just want to take.”

The MNA represents about 170 nurses at Cambridge Medical Center.

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NLRB: North Memorial responded to staffing campaign with harassment, retaliation

October 30, 2014 by
Union nurses and health care workers picketed outside North Memorial June 26.

Union nurses and health care workers picketed outside North Memorial June 26.

North Memorial Hospital illegally retaliated against union nurses and health care workers who participated in a campaign to fight staffing cuts and protect patient safety at the Robbinsdale hospital, according to a complaint issued this week by the Minneapolis-based Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board.

The complaint finds merit to charges of unfair labor practices filed by two unions working together on the staffing campaign at North Memorial, the Minnesota Nurses Association and SEIU Healthcare Minnesota. A press release issued jointly today detailed the unions’ charges.

MNA and SEIU Healthcare Minnesota filed charges with the NLRB after the hospital fired one employee, revoked work agreements and forced employees to work weekends, “repeatedly interrogated” staff about their union activities, warned employees and union staff that talking about unions was prohibited and threatened to file charges if discussions continued – all because they participated in the June picketing.

Members of the two unions staged informational picketing June 26 after hospital management moved unilaterally to cut staffing among nurses, dietary aides, housekeepers and other support workers. The cuts, workers said, made it more difficult for them to provide the quality of care North Memorial’s patients deserve.

Melvin Anderson, an SEIU member who took part in informational picketing, was fired from his position in the sterile processing unit at North Memorial – “a move alleged to be illegal by the NLRB,” according to the unions.

“Despite the challenges that North Memorial’s retaliation has caused for me, I don’t regret for one second that I spoke up for safe staffing levels and patient safety,” Anderson said. “I hope this ruling makes North Memorial understand that they can’t intimidate employees and that it is time to finally address their staffing levels. My co-workers are telling me that recent cuts in staff are putting their safety and patient safety at risk.”

The NLRB will hold a hearing on the case in January. If the board agrees that North Memorial committed unfair labor practices, it could order the hospital to compensate workers who were the target of harassment or retaliation, like Anderson.

Presidents from MNA and SEIU Healthcare Minnesota also commented on the complaint against North Memorial. MNA President Linda Hamilton:

North Memorial management’s actions were outrageous. Hospital staff were exercising their legal rights to a peaceful event to protest staffing plans that could endanger patient safety. The hospital should have used its energy to create safe staffing levels that ensure patient safety and allowed nurses to perform quality work.

SEIU Healthcare Minnesota President Jamie Gulley:

SEIU Healthcare Minnesota members bravely raised their voices to address staffing levels at North Memorial in June, but instead of listening to their front line staff, North Memorial decided instead to retaliate against and even fire workers who took part in the informational picket. The ruling Tuesday from the NLRB recognized this for what it is: harassment and intimidation. As staffing levels continue to decline, posing increased risks to patients, North Memorial must stop retaliating against employees and should instead focus on making certain their hospital has safe staffing levels as they care for our families.

View The Union Advocate’s coverage of the June 26 informational picketing in Robbinsdale.

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Electrical Workers crash Bonfe’s open house

September 26, 2014 by
IBEW Local 110 members (L to R) Jaime Hubbard, Dan Crawmer and Ray Lee called out Bonfe's for not paying area-standard wages and benefits to its electricians.

IBEW Local 110 members (L to R) Jaime Hubbard, Dan Crawmer and Ray Lee called out Bonfe’s for not paying area-standard wages and benefits to its electricians.

Bonfe’s Plumbing, Heating and Air Service held an open house for prospective employees last night in St. Paul, but not everyone on the guest list appreciated the invite.

About two dozen members of St. Paul-based Local 110 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers surrounded Bonfe’s property during the open house. They carried signs and banners, distributed leaflets and warned the public – and potential employees – that Bonfe’s does not pay its electricians wages and benefits that meet area standards.

Bonfe's, a non-union contractor, mailed open-house invitations to members of IBEW Local 110 in an apparent attempt to "poach" skilled workers.

Bonfe’s, a non-union contractor, mailed open-house invitations to members of IBEW Local 110 in an apparent attempt to “poach” skilled workers.

The open house drew IBEW Local 110’s attention after members reported receiving invitations in the mail, union representative Jeff Anderson said.

“They invited me here, and I came,” Anderson said. “Now they don’t want me here.”

Anderson speculated that Bonfe’s accessed Local 110 members’ mailing addresses via the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry’s registry. The open house, he said, was nothing more than an attempt to “poach” skilled workers from the IBEW and its signatory contractors.

Bonfe’s once was among Local 110’s signatory contractors, but it decertified about five years ago. The company no longer hires union electricians, plumbers or sheet metal workers. Bonfe’s is completely non-union.

“Not only do they not pay area standards,” Anderson said, “but from the reviews I’ve read online, it does not appear they are passing those saving on to their customers either.”

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Nurses, support workers unite for safe staffing at North Memorial Hospital

June 24, 2014 by
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North Memorial nurses and support staff join informational picketing outside the hospital, warning of unsafe cuts to staffing pushed by management.

ROBBINSDALE – Rankled by North Memorial Hospital’s plan to cut their staffing levels, nurses and support staff united for informational picketing outside the facility here today.

Hospital management, union leaders say, has moved unilaterally to cut staffing among nurses, dietary aides, housekeepers and other support workers to dangerously low levels. Nurses, for example, are now expected to spend 11 minutes per visit with a patient, down from the previous standard of 20 minutes, Minnesota Nurses Association President Linda Hamilton said.

“Patients need a whole lot more time than that,” Hamilton said. “But unfortunately, North Memorial has decided to put profits before patients.”

Jamie Gulley, president of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, said support workers, like registered nurses, see the impact of cuts to staffing – and the threat they pose to patient care.

“Members of SEIU and MNA have joined together to shine a spotlight on corporatization of health care at North memorial,” Gulley said. “It’s unconscionable for this hospital to prevent us from giving the care we want to give and that patients deserve.”

North Memorial nurses said they already had seen impacts of the cuts.

“Just having eyes on our patients – sometimes it’s the difference between noticing changes, or that something’s not right,” RN Christine Raatikka said. “It’s very stressful.”

“We are out picketing today because the plan proposed by North Memorial to cut staffing levels is dangerous and could put patients lives at risk if implemented,” Jennifer Kappel, a nursing assistant at North Memorial and SEIU member, added. “We work hard and care deeply about our patients, and will continue fighting these cuts to protect their safety.”
Presidents Linda Hamilton (MNA), Jamie Gulley (SEIU Healthcare MN) and Bobby Kasper (St. Paul Regional Labor Federat-ion) walked the picket line together.

Presidents Linda Hamilton (MNA), Jamie Gulley (SEIU Healthcare MN) and Bobby Kasper (St. Paul Regional Labor Federat-ion) walked the picket line together.

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Canadian Pacific’s restructuring sparks safety concerns among workers

February 20, 2014 by
UTU members join informational picketing outside Canadian Pacific's offices downtown Minneapolis.

UTU members join informational picketing outside Canadian Pacific’s offices downtown Minneapolis.

“It’s an accident waiting to happen.”

That’s rail worker Corey Plath’s assessment of Canadian Pacific Railway under the direction of CEO Hunter Harrison, who has made a career of cutting costs and, union members say, cutting corners when it comes to the safety of workers and the public.

Plath and fellow Minnesota-based members of the United Transportation Union have staged informational picketing outside Canadian Pacific’s offices downtown Minneapolis twice this month, raising awareness of “deteriorating” safety standards that have accompanied a massive restructuring initiative at the rail carrier’s parent company.

The UTU represents railroad conductors, engineers, switch operators and yardmasters at Canadian Pacific. The union’s legislative director in Minnesota, Philip Qualy, said union leaders have “attempted to work in partnership with Canadian Pacific to identify safety issues while improving efficiencies” over the past 13 months.

But those efforts have been met with resistance from management, Qualy said, and that starts with Harrison, Canadian Pacific’s CEO.

Harrison came out of retirement to take the reins of Canadian Pacific in June 2012. He was recruited for the job by William Ackman, founder of a hedge fund that had been aggressively buying stock in the railway’s parent company with an eye toward restructuring – and, later, reselling the stock for a tidy profit.

Ackman pegged Harrison for the job because of his record as CEO of Canadian National Railway from 2003 to 2009, when Harrison oversaw an overhaul of Canadian National operations that increased the railway’s efficiencies, but drew sharp criticism from safety regulators.

A 2007 investigation into rail safety by the Canadian government chastised Harrison’s company for creating a culture of fear that stifled employee participation in efforts to identify safety concerns.

Now, workers say Harrison is doing the same thing at Canadian Pacific.

UTU members who work at Canadian Pacific report being refused meal and other breaks during 12-hour shifts in sub-zero weather conditions, and they say managers harass and intimidate workers who speak up about safety concerns.

“People aren’t saying anything or they’re afraid or threatened with discipline or job loss – so they’re not saying what they notice,” Plath said.

Canadian Pacific’s restructuring is expected to result in about 4,500 job losses, including inspectors and other “safety-sensitive positions.” Qualy said the increased workloads could push rail workers “past a point of task overload.”

What’s more, UTU members allege Canadian Pacific has cut costs by removing safety equipment from switching yards, eliminating emergency exit routing and decreasing mechanical inspections for trains carrying hazardous materials.

Already, a string of train derailments has plagued Canadian Pacific’s restructuring effort. In March 2013 a Canadian Pacific train derailed in western Minnesota, spilling more than 20,000 gallons of crude oil onto the frozen ground.

“We roll through pristine prairies and dark alleys. We’re rolling through neighborhoods carrying oil, anhydrous ammonia and other hazardous materials,” Plath said. “This is not about our contract. It’s not about money. This is about guys saying enough is enough.”

“We will continue to attempt to work in partnership for railroad safety with Canadian Pacific management,” Qualy said. “We must stand up for operations that ensure the safety of our members and the public.”

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Workers to keep pressure on Verizon with May 3 picket in Roseville

May 2, 2012 by

Workers outside the Verizon Store in Roseville during the “National Day of Action” March 22.

Apparently, Verizon didn’t get the message the first time.

On March 22, union members protested outside Verizon Stores across the country in a “Verizon National Day of Action.” Tomorrow workers nationwide will stage more informational pickets, timed to coincide with the company’s annual shareholder meeting Alabama.

In the Twin Cities, the informational picket will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. outside the Verizon Wireless Store in Roseville, located at 2325 Fairview Ave. N. (This is not the store inside the Rosedale Mall.)

It’s the same Verizon location where workers picketed March 22. Workers inside the Roseville store are not union members, and demonstrators will not attempt to prevent customers from entering the store.

Rather, the point of the informational picket is customer education and solidarity with Verizon’s 45,000 union workers on the East Coast, who are members of the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

These union members have been working without a contract since the previous agreement with the company expired in August 2011.

Although Verizon claims it needs concessions from its workers totaling $20,000 per member annually, the truth is the company is turning record profits.

The company is so profitable, in fact, that CEO Lowell McAdam recently tripled his annual compensation, from $7.2 million to $23.1 million. And while the company claims it needs to strip its union workers of their pensions and health benefits, Verizon’s top executives have taken home $258 million over the last four years.

For more information on the Verizon campaign, go to www.cwa-union.org/verizon.

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