Minnesota Nurses Association Votes For Strike

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MINNEAPOLIS (GaeaTimes.com)- After the June 10 one day strike called by the Minnesota Nurses Association on Monday the union was able to gather 84% vote in favor of an open-ended work strike in Minneapolis-St Paul area of Minnesota. The strike will affect around 14 hospitals of that area. The voting results of the Minnesota Nurses Association has not only disappointed the hospital authorities but also made many patients and their family anxious.

On June 10 the Minnesota Nurses Association had gone on a strike demanding increase in hospital staffs. It also demanded that there should not be any cuts applied to their pensions. On Monday the association needed 66% vote from the voting nurses of the association to authorize the longer strike and they got an overwhelming response with the 84 percent vote. According to reports, the nurses will give the hospitals a minimum of ten days notice. However, the union on Monday maintained that although they have gathered the needed mandate they would not issue a strike notice “as long as productive negotiations are continuing”.

The president of the Minnesota Nurses Association Linda Hamilton issued a written statement on Monday in which she mentioned that the union hopes that the vote response will send a message to the hospitals maintaining at the same time that the going on an indefinite strike is not the goal of the association. Linda Hamilton said that the union has been forced to take such a decision by the hospital which has turned deaf ear to the proposals that the union had given related to patient safety for the last three months. The association maintains that the nurses on their part will do anything to protect the patients.