The Minnesota Nurses Association filed a 10-day notice of an intent to host an informational picket at Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Brainerd to demand management "Care for Caregivers" with COVID-19 protections, pay, and benefits to recruit and retain nurses, the association stated in a news release.
The nurses in Brainerd have been negotiating with Essentia management for more than a year.
Nurses have been asking for immediate access to personal protective equipment, proper testing and permanent presumptive eligibility for workers' compensation pay with a COVID-19 positive diagnosis. They have also made wage proposals that match Essentia's other hospitals in Duluth. Data shows 15% of nurses there have quit to find higher-paying employers, the release stated.
"Nurses have been on the frontlines of this pandemic," Kyle Zelinske, a registered nurse at Essentia Health in Brainerd, stated. "Yet, we have to wait and ask for PPE or find our own testing. All for an employer that puts us years behind other nurses at other Essentia hospitals. Patients should know about the conditions their nurses are dealing with."
Nurses will also host a sign-making party from 1-4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 18, in Gregory Park in Brainerd. Essentia Health workers who take part in the picket will do so on their off-hours. No workers will leave their jobs to attend, and no patient care will be affected, the association said.
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The informational picket will be from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday — with a “10 a.m. Morning rally” and a “5 p.m. Afternoon rally” for Minnesota Nurses Association workers. The picket will occur on Third Street, between Grove and Ivy streets in Brainerd.
The release stated this will be an informational picket, not a strike or a work stoppage and its purpose is to alert patients and the community of workplace safety and retention issues.
The program will take place outside, where nurses and attendees will practice 6-feet of social distancing.
The event also will be streamed at www.facebook.com/MinnesotaNurses/ .
