“Feels like it’s gone on far too long to be honest with
you,” said David Kanihan, vice president of communications for Allina Health. Allina
says it has to make the cuts due to budgetary restrictions, but nurses say the
healthcare company could cut other parts of the budget instead. Allina also
unfairly restricted nurses’ right to discuss union issues or the strike during
work hours, said Brendan Cummins, an attorney representing MNA.
“Of the 1,500 or so that we are bringing in, about 50
percent are the same people who came in June,” said David Kanihan, an Allina
Health spokesperson
Allegations against Allina include claims that they did not
enter negotiations in good faith, delayed sharing information needed for
bargaining, and gave progressively bad offers. “So we have a good number who are already
familiar with our facilities and how everything works. And I think we can
expect it to go pretty smoothly.”
The dispute between Allina and its nurses stems around
proposed changes to the nurses healthcare plan, which nurses say would offer
less coverage. Nurses also have asked
for more annual safety training on how to de-escalate agitated and potentially
violent patients, a guarantee of a security guard working in emergency rooms 24
hours a day, and a change in staffing so that charge nurses don’t have direct
patient assignments and can instead maintain supervisory roles and fill in for
nurses when they need breaks or become busy with other patients.
No comments:
Write comments