Minnesota and Wisconsin nurses return to work after end of strike

Hundreds of nurses in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin returned to work Wednesday after ending a two-week strike against Essentia Health.

Around 300 clinic nurses and 400 nurse practitioners and physician assistants represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association, or MNA, walked off the job on July 8 and 10. The striking workers included nurses at Essentia’s Superior clinic.

While the strike ended, negotiations with Essentia are continuing. The health care workers want to negotiate their first union contracts to obtain more control over their schedules and improve patient care.

Dana Bukovich, a registered nurse at Essentia’s Superior clinic, said 24 nurses at the clinic are among hundreds who have expressed concerns about Essentia’s practice of rotating them between other facilities across northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin.

“We are really looking to get some protective language in a contract that lays out what determines that a nurse is competent to float to another facility or department and to make it fair and equitable for people,” Bukovich said.

Bukovich, who is a union steward with the Superior bargaining unit, said negotiations were ongoing with Essentia on Wednesday. The strike ended after Essentia agreed to negotiate contracts with four groups of clinic nurses at the same time, including the Superior nurses’ contracts.

“Throughout often challenging and complex conversations, Essentia’s bargaining team has been dedicated, disciplined and principled in their time negotiating with MNA leadership,” Rhonda Kazik, chief nurse executive at Essentia, said in a statement. “We look forward to the shared work ahead to advance our mission to make a healthy difference in people’s lives.”

The nurses are part of a broader trend of unionizing in the health care sector. Research shows union representation of health care workers outpaces other industries.

Bukovich said an exodus of nurses leaving health care after the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a shortage, saying she feels Essentia has been trying to fill holes by rotating people to other facilities.

While negotiations are ongoing with clinic nurses, Essentia has not met with the more than 400 advanced practice providers in a dispute over whether they can negotiate as a single bargaining group. The clinicians are spread across 69 facilities in Minnesota and Wisconsin, including clinics in Hayward, Spooner and Ashland.

The group voted to unionize last year, and the National Labor Relations Board, or NLRB, ruled that they could be represented as a single labor group.

“We feel that they should be negotiating with them and that what they are doing is illegal,” Bukovich said.

However, Essentia has appealed the board’s decision. The health system said it’s challenging the ruling because of potential harm to patients if more than 400 clinicians went on strike. Meanwhile, the labor relations board has lacked enough members to make decisions on labor disputes since President Donald Trump fired NLRB Chair Gwynne Wilcox.

“The matter is pending before the NLRB, and the union has called on Essentia to waive its legal right to appeal. Essentia has clearly and consistently communicated that it will not waive its legal rights and that a strike would not speed up the legal review process,” Essentia said in a statement.

Trump nominated Scott Mayer and James Murphy to the board last week to fill two open Republican seats. However, it’s unknown when they may receive potential confirmation from the U.S. Senate.

During the strike, nurses at Essentia’s Superior clinic alleged multiple cases of threatening or retaliatory behavior by their direct supervisor. Workers say their supervisor wanted to shoot striking nurses with a paintball gun and “run down picketers now.”

The Minnesota Nurses Association said it has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board. Essentia has said it will review the allegations, adding it doesn’t condone intimidation or retaliation.

In the meantime, not all nurses were able to return to work after Essentia filled their shifts with traveling nurses. Bukovich expects most will be able to resume work on Friday. Superior clinic nurses will continue bargaining with Essentia next week. Bukovich said they hope to reach a tentative agreement by Aug. 5.