Minnesota nurses strike

Nurses, hospitals to meet with mediators Thursday

by Lorna Benson, Minnesota Public Radio

St. Paul, Minn. — Negotiators for Twin Cities nurses and 14 hospitals will meet with federal mediators Thursday in an attempt to work out their differences over a new labor contract.

Hospitals and nurse leaders are sharing very few details about the negotiating session. They will only say that the meeting is being held in an undisclosed location and that several mediators will be on hand to assist the parties in talks.

This is the first time in three weeks that nurses and hospitals are back at the bargaining table. Two previous sessions with federal mediators in early June did nothing to break the impasse over staffing, pay and pension issues.

The nurses have authorized their negotiators to call an open-ended strike, if an agreement can't be reached. But nurse leaders have promised to hold off on setting a strike date, as long as talks show signs of progress.