Overview
- The Minnesota Nurses Association said nurses at North Memorial Health’s Maple Grove Hospital approved an unfair labor practice strike authorization.
- The authorization does not trigger a walkout and instead lets union leaders call one after a required 10-day notice, which the union says would be the hospital’s first.
- Union leaders say contract talks have stretched for more than a year with over 29 bargaining sessions and several unfair labor practice claims.
- Nurses are pressing for more staffing to meet rising patient demand, stronger retention measures, and clearer accountability at the bedside.
- North Memorial Health says it is bargaining in good faith as it pursues a merger with Sanford Health that includes plans to expand Maple Grove’s birth center and add inpatient and surgical capacity.