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Hundreds of clinic workers will return to work Wednesday, after two weeks on strike.
Nurses and advanced practice providers at Essentia Health clinics across central and northern Minnesota walked off the job in early July, alleging unfair labor practices.
For striking nurses, the main issue was the pace of contract negotiations. Nurses from several Twin Ports area clinics are in the bargaining process, and they say Essentia is moving too slowly.
They did not reach contract agreements during the strike, but Essentia agreed to add more bargaining dates to the calendar.
Kim Volkart, a nurse at Solvay Hospice House in Duluth, said that was a win.
“Essentia has begun to show a willingness to engage seriously,” Volkart said. “That progress is far overdue, but it is meaningful.”
Essentia says the company is bargaining in good faith with workers. A spokesperson said first contracts with union workers typically take 18 months to finalize; negotiations started less than a year ago for all bargaining units on strike.
Nurses are pushing for a quicker timeline. They say they’re looking for contracts that protect staffing levels, wages and paid leave for workers injured on the job.
“We are more determined than ever to reach an agreement on our first contracts – contracts that prioritize the health and well being of both our patients and us,” oncology nurse Julie Flotten said.
The advance practice providers went on strike in the midst of a legal battle over their union’s status.
More than 400 of those providers, who work as nurse practitioners, physician assistants, certified nurse midwives and clinical nurse specialists, voted to unionize in 2024.
They want to negotiate their contracts together, as a single bargaining unit. But Essentia says they work in too many distinct facilities and areas for that to be practical. The providers are spread out between more than 70 clinics and hospitals across Minnesota and Wisconsin, according to an Essentia spokesperson.
A regional director of the National Labor Relations Board ruled in favor of the workers, saying they could bargain together as a unit. Essentia challenged the ruling, bringing it to the national board.
But the national board’s ruling could take some time; the board is currently on hiatus after President Donald Trump fired two members earlier this year, leaving it without enough members to legally vote.
Essentia says it won’t negotiate contracts with the union before getting a final ruling, as this could jeopardize its legal grounds to challenge the board’s decision. But providers want the company to come to the table.
“They have not shown respect by meeting us at the bargaining table,” nurse practitioner Vicky Brady said. “And they have committed various other unfair labor practices in the meantime, like making changes to our working conditions without negotiating with us.”
Essentia did not move in its approach to the advanced practice providers during the strike.
“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,” a spokesperson said.
Essentia closed four clinics and Solvay Hospice House during the strike. A spokesperson said Tuesday that the company is working to reopen them soon, once staff return to work.
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