MPR: The Nurses Strike

Twin Cities nurses negotiated to the final strike deadline on June 1, 2001 before reaching tentative agreements to avert a strike by 7,700 nurses at 12 metro hospitals. But nurses at two facilities rejected the offer, the first nurses' strike in the Twin Cities since 1984. See a slideshow of striking nurses discussing their issues.

"If there is such a nurses' shortage, how are so many replacement nurses being found so easily?"
-Patricia
Apple Valley
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Hospital Update
See contingency plans from area hospitals.
Abbott Northwestern Hospital
Children's Hospitals
Fairview Health Services
HealthEast Care System
Mercy and Unity Hospitals
Methodist Hospital
Phillips Eye Institute
United Hospital

James Brietenbucher (left), Fairview Vice President of Medical Affairs, and Senior Vice President Mark Enger, discuss the hospital's plans in response to the nurses strike. Listen to their comments.

Links
Minnesota Nurses Association

American Nurses Association

Minnesota Hospital and Healthcare Partnership

Nurses approve contract

Nurses line up to vote Monday on a contract proposal aimed to end a near month-long strike of nurses at two Twin Cities hospitals.

The Minnesota Nurses Association says the nurses at Fairview Riverside in Minneapolis and Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina can go back to work on Friday after ratifying their contract. The ratfication puts an end to four months of often bitter negotiations between nurses and 13 Twin Cities hospitals. ( More... )

Recent Stories

A Tentative Agreement June 23, 2001 Minnesota Nurses Association reaches a tentative agreement with two Fairview Hospitals which could end a strike by 1,350 nurses. ( More...)
	An Earful June 6, 2001 Union officials met with nurses at two institutions to discuss the botched voting process. The nurses let them know how they feel. Listen
Nurses on the Line June 3, 2001 Most nurses settled their dispute, but nurses at two Fairview units walked off the job, and hit the picket line. More ...
	More Stories See other stories from MPR's Tom Scheck.

In Depth

The Issues
Both sides in the contract dispute discuss the strike potential. Guests include Jennifer Michaelson, a member of the Minnesota Nurses Association and a nurse at United Hospital; Barbara Balik, an administrator with Allina; Shireen Gandhi-Kozel, assistant vice president of the Minnesota Hospital and Healthcare Partnership; Sandra Edwardson, the dean of the School of Nurses at the University of Minnesota. May 31, 2001. Listen.

The Health Care System
The threatened nurses' strike has focused attention on several larger issues facing the nation's health care system. Why does health care cost so much? Why is there is so much emphasis on cost rather than care? How good is the care we receive? Guest: Ethicist Arthur Caplan, the director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. Listen.

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