Duluth Clinic 1st Street Bargaining

Updates

Essentia Health recognizes the MNA as the union representing clinic nurses at Essentia Health Duluth Clinic 1st Street. Essentia Health is committed to working through the usual process of bargaining in good faith to come to a mutually agreeable contract. Bargaining on a new first contract began on July 9, 2024.  

Upcoming negotiations scheduled

  • July 28, 2025

July 17 Update

First contract bargaining update

Essentia Health and the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) held productive bargaining sessions yesterday, facilitated by a mediator, with about 40 nurse observers from the clinic present at the start.

Over the course of the day:

    • Essentia responded to the MNA’s previous proposal by addressing management rights and confirmation of employment and discussing union security.
    • The MNA expressed a willingness to agree to the management rights language as part of a package and suggested adjustments to the confirmation of employment and union security. They also proposed changes related to cross-facility floating, benefits, retirement, and hours and scheduling.
    • Essentia incorporated some of the MNA’s suggestions into a counter proposal, focusing on the confirmation of employment agreement, union security, and hours and scheduling.
    • At the end of the day, Essentia answered MNA questions and received further proposals from the MNA on the confirmation of employment agreement, hours and scheduling, educational development, and two package proposals.

Overall progress: Both parties made notable progress toward establishing a first contract for the Duluth Clinic 1st and 2nd Street nurses. Essentia remains committed to continuing negotiations with all six new MNA units in the Twin Ports, understanding that reaching first contracts in health care typically takes about 18 months. Our next scheduled bargaining date is July 28. The parties are continuing to discuss additional bargaining dates.

A note to our colleagues negotiating first contracts

We have previously explained to the MNA why separate negotiations are crucial, and we want to ensure our colleagues negotiating first contracts understand our perspective as well.

    1. Diverse interests and priorities: Each group has a separate community of interest, unique job duties, facilities and priorities. While there are certainly similarities between some of the units, combining all of them in negotiations could lead to overlooking specific needs. If the MNA thought the nurses and staff at the several facilities had the same community of interest, they could have sought to represent all of them together when they were seeking to organize the separate units.
    2. Coordination complexities: First contract groups are at different stages in negotiations. Aligning them into a single negotiation process would complicate contract management and progress.
    3. Fairness and justice: Rushing this process would not be fair to those most affected by the decisions made at the bargaining table, including our patients, other Essentia colleagues and the nurses and staff at each of the separate facilities.

Negotiation timeline: First contracts in health care typically take 18 months to negotiate. Currently, only two of the six groups have reached the one-year mark and others have only been bargaining for less than six months. The last first contract Essentia negotiated with MNA in Moose Lake took over two years to complete.

Upcoming bargaining dates: We have scheduled additional bargaining sessions for various first contract groups on July 18, 23, 25, 30 and 31. The parties are continuing to discuss additional bargaining dates.

Focus on patient care: We are prioritizing patient care. We invite the MNA to do the same by focusing on reaching agreements at the table, rather than striking and attempting to negotiate all contracts simultaneously.

Bargaining units only get one first contract – and we need the time to do this right. We thank our colleagues bargaining first contracts for considering this perspective as we work toward reaching fair and equitable agreements.

 

June 26 Update

Bargaining update

Essentia and the MNA met June 26 to continue first contract negotiations for nurses at the Duluth Clinic 2nd Street Building. We’ll provide an update following the July 17 session.

June 16 Update

Bargaining update 

On Feb. 6, 2024, nurses at the 1st Street Clinic voted to be represented by the MNA for purposes of collective bargaining. Approximately five months later, the MNA requested to meet with Essentia to bargain a first contract. Essentia agreed and the parties met for the first time on July 9, 2024.

Since then, Essentia has met with the MNA on 17 additional days:

    • Aug. 16, 2024
    • Aug. 23, 2024
    • Sept. 4, 2024
    • Sept. 25, 2024
    • Oct. 31, 2024
    • Nov. 11, 2024
    • Dec. 4, 2024
    • Jan. 13, 2025
    • Feb. 11, 2025
    • March 5, 2025
    • April 10-11, 2025
    • April 17-18, 2025
    • May 15-16, 2025
    • June 9, 2025

Over those days, we have reached 23 tentative agreements over a variety of topics:

    1. Preamble
    2. Union Access to Clinic
    3. Probationary Period
    4. Separability and Savings
    5. Orientation and Preceptor Program
    6. Dual Licensure
    7. Posting of Positions
    8. Labor Management Committee
    9. Employer Committees
    10. Union Participation
    11. Non-Discrimination
    12. Safety and Health
    13. Pandemic/Endemic/Disaster Planning and Preparation
    14. Breakage and Loss
    15. Identification
    16. Bulletin Board
    17. Drug, Alcohol, and Cannabis Testing
    18. Seniority
    19. Discipline and Discharge
    20. Voluntary Resignation
    21. Personnel Records
    22. Grievance and Arbitration
    23. Uniforms

We continue bargaining over 20 other topics including wages and benefits. In the meantime, we are maintaining the status quo. With negotiations ongoing, we also offered to provide nurses at the 1st Street Clinic annual wage increases averaging 3.5% this past April, an offer which was rejected by the MNA.

As we shared during the election campaign when nurses were considering representation by the MNA, first contracts in health care take an average of 18 months to complete from the beginning of negotiations. We are now approximately 11 months into negotiations. We will continue negotiating with the MNA in good faith as we tackle the outstanding issues. Our next date is scheduled for June 26, 2025.

We are grateful for our nurses’ dedication to providing high-quality care to our community.

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Below is a representative sample of frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the bargaining process and what it means for MNA and Essentia Health.

 
The current agreement covers approximately 90 clinic (ambulatory) nurses in the 1st Street building in Duluth.
1st Street clinic nurses voted to be represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association in 2024. We are beginning to negotiate a first contract. We will participate in good faith bargaining in pursuit of a contract that benefits our nurses and our organization. Most importantly, we will strive to reach an agreement that allows us to continue providing high-quality care close to home for the patients we are privileged to serve in the Twin Ports and the surrounding communities.
The process of negotiating a first contract can take many months. We will provide updates on this site as negotiations progress.

Still Have a Question?

For additional information or relevant questions not addressed here, email the Essentia Health team at bargaining@essentiahealth.org.