RNs and Advanced Practice workers standing strong 11 days into open-ended strike

Duluth, MN – On Friday, July 19, striking workers were on the picket line at Essentia Health, Duluth Clinic 2nd Street. Friday marked the 11th day of an open-ended strike by around 700 Registered Nurses and Advanced Practice Providers (APP) who formed a union in 2024.

The workers are demanding that management sit down with them and negotiate their first union contract, more than a year after they won their union election and formed a union. In February of 2024 the RNs at Essentia Clinics voted to join the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) and soon after, in July 2024, the Advanced Practice Providers also joined MNA.

Now, more than a year later, Essentia management is refusing to negotiate a first contract with the advanced practice workers and has filed an appeal with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) seeking to throw out the results of the election.

Essentia’s argument claims that advanced practice workers do not constitute a legally eligible bargaining unit under NLRB standards. However, this issue was litigated by the NLRB in 2024 and, after hearing both sides in a federal hearing the NLRB, ruled that the bargaining unit was valid and went ahead with the election. Once the workers won their election and formed a union Essentia was legally compelled to begin negotiating with the workers. To date, they have failed to do so and have said publicly that they will continue to refuse to do so as long as their appeal is unresolved.

At this time the union is in place and Essentia is legally required to negotiate with the workers until a time when the ruling is reversed, if it is. MNA has filed federal charges with the NLRB citing that Essentia committed an unfair labor practice by not bargaining with the newly-formed union.

Since Donald Trump was sworn into office in January of 2025, he has fired a sitting member of the NLRB board in Washington DC, meaning that the board no longer has a quorum to rule over cases which are appealed. This sets up a situation in which by appealing the ruling, regardless of validity of the appeal, the case will not be resolved at least until there is quorum again at the NLRB which could be in months or years.

On day eleven of the strike, the picket lines remained large and energetic with around 100 workers picketing at the 2nd Street clinic and another picket location at another Essentia clinic. Many cars driving by on 2nd Street honked and waved. Pizzas were delivered to feed the striking workers, and members of other unions in the area came out and walked the line in support of the strike.

Julie Flotten is an RN in the1st Street oncology building. Flotten said, “We have been working diligently just to try to get Essentia to create a contract with us, and confirm our jobs, not float us to areas that we are not trained, have transparency with us as employees and as an employer just give a promise in writing of how they are going to treat us so we can take care of our patients.”

Flotten went on to say, “We didn’t get hired to become float nurses. I worked really hard to become an expert in oncology. Essentia wants to be able to float us around based on numbers where they have low staff or wherever the need might be, but I wouldn’t be really good in OB or GI or neurology. I am really good in oncology, and so we want to have all of our colleagues work in the area that they are specialized in so they can deliver the best patient care.”

Brittany Ortler is a Nurse Practitioner in the gastroenterology department. Nurse Practitioners, along with Physicians Assistants and Midwives, form the advanced practice providers bargaining unit. Ortler stated, “We felt that the voices of the advanced practice providers were really not being heard at Essentia, and we felt that uniting the group together to unionize was really the only option that we had.”

Ortler continued, “We overwhelmingly voted to have a union. Since that time, after we voted, Essentia appealed that vote up to the National NLRB. The national NLRB – we gave them some time, and then the [U.S. presidential] election came and January 20 happened and the national NLRB no longer has a quorum so they are unable to even hear our case at this time, so we have asked Essentia to drop the appeal, we’ve asked them to come to the table to bargain with us, we’ve asked them to conditionally bargain with us while we are waiting for the appeal and they have just simply refused to acknowledge really that we exist and that we have rights to bargaining, so we are on an unfair labor practice strike.”

When asked what she would say to Essentia management, Ortler said, “We want to have a voice in how we care for our patients, the time we get to spend with our patients, whether that be being able to say no to having two patients scheduled at the same time and having to split your time between them both. We really feel strongly that we should be able to have a voice in how our patients are cared for,” adding, “We want to protect our patients, we want to protect ourselves, and we want to ensure that we are providing the best care for our patients as we can.”

To Essentia management, Flotten said, “Meet with us! Take this seriously! Take this as seriously as we are! People are losing their livelihoods right now. We don’t want to be out here walking when we are trained to be working, It’s a shame for our patients. None of us want to be out here on the sidewalk. It is not a vacation. The only glimmer is that we have made stronger relationships with one and another and made us stronger that way,” and, “Essentia needs to meet with us and bargain every day, and bring the advanced practice providers to the table and recognize their union, and to respect that these first contracts deserve a fair contract.”

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Source: https://fightbacknews.org/rns-and-advanced-practice-workers-standing-strong-11-days-into-open-ended-strike?pk_campaign=rss-feed