Striking nurses at Minneapolis-based Allina Health have expressed concerns the health system will fail to meet an informal agreement regarding staff safety, reports MPR News.
Under the informal agreement, 24-hour-a-day security guards would be added in emergency departments, according to the article. But nurse negotiator Angela Becchetti told MPR News the striking nurses are concerned the walkout will affect whether Allina follows through on its consent to bolster security.
"The key thing is that there was no tentative agreements on it. So unfortunately I can't guarantee when Allina actually wants to come back and negotiate with us that we will have a security guard 24/7," she said.
In response to the concerns, Allina sent an email to MPR News, saying the health system doesn't want to come back to provisions that have been agreed on in principal.
"The safety of our employees is always one of our top priorities," Allina spokesman David Kanihan said in the email. "Allina Health and the union traded proposals on Sept. 3 agreeing to all aspects of this issue that were then on the table, including the number of hours of required training and 24/7 security staffing in the emergency department."
This is the second week of the open-ended strike. Allina nurses, represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association, began their second strike of the summer on Labor Day at five Minnesota hospitals — Abbott Northwestern Hospital and Phillips Eye Institute in Minneapolis, United Hospital in St. Paul, Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids and Unity Hospital in Fridley. As workers began the strike, Allina brought in 1,500 replacement nurses. No new talks are scheduled between the two parties.