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Members of Teamsters Local 120 who provide home-delivery of oxygen and medical equipment for Allina Health ratified a new contract Saturday, narrowly avoiding a work stoppage. Frustrated by management’s refusal to consider meaningful wage increases in negotiating sessions last month, the 42 members of Local 120 unanimously authorized their bargaining team to call a strike […]
Energized by the prospect of keeping a pro-labor president in the White House, union volunteers in Minnesota are hitting the streets, working the phones and planning a major presence at tonight’s precinct caucuses, one of 14 Super Tuesday nominating contests nationwide. [Click here to learn how to participate in the caucus process. Click here […]
North Branch teachers rallied with supporters on back-to-back days this week, sending a clear message to school board members and administrators before contract negotiations resumed today. “We’re not in this alone,” industrial tech teacher Irv Geary said. “We’re all in this together. And it’s not just a teacher issue; it’s a community issue.” Geary, a […]
Nurses from five Twin Cities hospital systems voted yesterday to ratify union contracts that will protect their pension and health benefits and provide 2 percent raises in each of the next three years. The new contracts won’t go into effect for more than four months. Negotiations between the Minnesota Nurses Association and the hospitals – […]
One day after nurses at five Twin Cities hospital systems agreed to limit the scope of bargaining to wages, negotiators for the two sides reached a tentative agreement over the terms of a new, three-year contract that, if ratified by members, would go into effect June 1. The Minnesota Nurses Association, which represents more than […]
Minnesota plummeted in a nationwide ranking of hospital safety released yesterday, but that came as no surprise to nurses, whose reports of unsafe staffing incidents in hospitals statewide have doubled over the last 12 months. Minnesota fell from 15th to 32nd in the Hospital Safety Score rankings, based on the percentage of hospitals that receive […]
When a non-union electrical contractor was undermining area wages and benefits on a project funded by Ramsey County several years back, IBEW Local 110’s Brian Winkelaar didn’t think twice about what to do. He called Darren Tobolt, County Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt’s longtime assistant. “I called him up and said, ‘Darren, how come they’re on this […]
North Memorial Medical Center illegally fired one worker and unlawfully attempted to block others from participating in a campaign to fight staffing cuts and protect patient safety at the Robbinsdale hospital, an administrative law judge ruled Friday. Acting on behalf of the National Labor Relations Board, Judge Christine Dibble upheld charges of unfair labor practices […]
Medicare turned 50 years old yesterday, and Minnesota nurses celebrated by throwing President Lyndon B. Johnson’s landmark legislation a barbecue birthday bash in St. Paul. More than 100 million people are enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid, which provides health care to low-income Americans and also turned 50 yesterday. Together, the programs ensure seniors maintain […]
Wish Medicare a happy 50th birthday at a free barbecue and celebration hosted by the Minnesota Nurses Association from 5 to 9 p.m. July 30 at the Highland Park Shelter, 1200 Montreal Ave., St. Paul. Nurses are marking Medicare’s birthday with calls for lawmakers to protect, improve and expand the popular program, which provides high-quality […]
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