DFL Gov candidates picket with striking nurses, GOP and IP pols side with hospitals

Photo: Minnesota Nurses Association, Facebook

Around 12,000 Minnesota nurses walked off the job Thursday for a one-day strike that organizers have touted as the largest U.S. nursing strike in history. The dispute revolves primarily around pay cuts and staffing issues, with hospitals seeking to renegotiate nurses-to-patient ratios.

To no surprise, all three DFL Party candidates support the nurses union in the dispute. Each candidate is making stops at various picket lines throughout the day, though the campaigns appear to have staked out different parts of the Twin Cities. Matt Entenza appeared at Children’s Hospital in St. Paul; Margaret Anderson Kelliher heads out to Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids later in the day and Mark Dayton is due to stop by three hospitals in the afternoon: United in St. Paul (hours after Enzenta was at the neighboring Children’s), Abbott Northwestern and Children’s in Minneapolis. They each are joining picket lines and talking to nurses. Dayton even went to a pre-strike nurses meeting where he helped make signs, with his reading “Doctors are important. Nurses are essential.”

Kelliher has been endorsed by The Minnesota Nurses Association for the primary, though the union will likely support whichever DFL candidate makes it to the general election. As Minnesota House speaker, Kelliher helped shape the budget deal that gives Minnesota’s next governor the power to decide whether to expand Medicaid to gain access to $1.4 billion in federal money. Her spokesperson told The American Independent Thursday that one of her first actions as governor would be to opt into the program in hope that the extra money for hospitals would alleviate some of the strain on hospitals behind the dispute.

While the DFLers have all staked out the same position, the Independence Party has seen a split on the issue between their candidates. Endorsed IP candidate Tom Horner holds complicated ties to the strike; his public relations firm, Himle-Horner, Inc., was hired last year to provide guidance for the hospitals in the dispute. Not surprisingly, when asked about the strike he leans toward supporting the hospitals in the negotiations. This is the second time in as many days that Horner’s business ties have raised concerns over his campaign.

Horner’s non-endorsed primary opponent Rob Hahn tried to thrust himself into the dispute recently by offering to mediate between the nurses and hospitals, though neither side appears to take the suggestion too seriously.

On the GOP side, Tom Emmer has not directly engaged the issue with the same enthusiasm as the DFL. But in a statement to The Star Tribune, Emmer appeared to side with the hospitals in the dispute:

I respect the right of an employee to organize and negotiate fair value for the service he or she provides. By the same token, I respect the right of employers to run their business as they deem best to provide the best quality and value for their customers. In this case, their patients.

I appreciate the compassion and concern that our nurses have for their patients and their profession. However, I believe hospital management is in the best position to make final decisions regarding staffing ratios. That being said, I understand that our nurses already do have input in this decision making process and our hospitals should be commended for considering their concerns.

An official with Allina Hospitals & Clinics told The Star Tribune that the hospitals affected by the strike are running without issue, though all are operating well below capacity.

The negotiations in Minnesota are part of the National Nurses United union push to raise awareness about pension cuts and stressful staffing levels, among other issues. An attempt in California to follow suit with nursing strikes there were blocked by a judge’s order.