MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Allina Health workers belonging to the SEIU Healthcare Minnesota union announced their intent to strike in 10 days if the two sides don't reach a contract agreement.
The strike would start on May 10 and would impact nearly 4,000 health care workers at multiple Allina facilities in the Twin Cities metro area. The workers hold various positions such as nursing assistants, patient transport aids, surgical techs, warehouse clerks, nutrition services and more.
According to SEIU, one of the major sticking points in negotiations is no pay increase for the first year of the contract.
Bargaining started in January. Allina Health and union representatives will meet again on May 3.
Allina Health released the following statement in response to the intent to strike:
"Allina Health pays its SEIU represented employees an average of 5% - 6% more than other health systems, and has since 2011. Recently SEIU settled with other healthcare systems in the metro for less than our current proposal, which keeps us as the leader in wages and benefits. Throughout these negotiations we have consistently offered proposals that demonstrate our commitment to our employees, including wage increases and agreeing to some of the union’s other priority issues. SEIU continues to seek an economic package that is unrealistic and does not reflect the financial realities caused by the pandemic. We look forward to another bargaining session on May 3, as our preference is to reach an agreement on new contracts and avoid work stoppages that don’t benefit anyone."