Virginia Bargaining

Essentia Health is conducting regular bargaining with the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA), the union representing more than 100 nurses at Essentia Health–Virginia. Essentia Health is committed to working through the usual process of bargaining in good faith to come to a mutually beneficial agreement.

June 11 Update

The collective bargaining agreement between Essentia Health and the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) covering about 125 acute care nurses in Virginia expires July 31, 2025. We hoped negotiations would begin in June, but the MNA has refused the dates we offered to meet in June and offered no alternatives for Essentia to consider. Our goal is to reach an agreement on a new contract by the time the current one expires.

Please check back to this site for up-to-date information about negotiations and other important topics. Once bargaining begins, we will provide updates on progress at the table.

Time at the bargaining table
We are committed to devoting the necessary time and space needed to negotiate and will do our part to ensure that both are secured. On Monday, May 12, Essentia provided the MNA with 14 business days of availability to meet throughout June and July and asked the MNA for as many consecutive-day meetings as possible. Meeting on consecutive days, in successive weeks, starting well in advance of July 31, gives the parties the best opportunity to reach a timely settlement.

After multiple reminders, the MNA finally responded on May 27, agreeing to only three of the 14 dates that were offered, none of which were consecutive. We immediately responded to the MNA reminding them of our shared responsibility to devote the time needed to have proper discussions and bargain in good faith to reach a new agreement by July 31. We asked the MNA to reconsider and agree to additional dates. On June 3, the MNA responded that they had no additional dates available but shared our goal of reaching an agreement before expiration. We immediately responded, expressing our concerns that the three days they agreed to meet would not be enough to reach a resolution, and we again asked the MNA to share additional available dates. We have not yet received a response from the MNA offering more dates.

So far, the MNA has only agreed to three bargaining dates: July 8, July 24 and July 30. We will continue to push the MNA for additional dates and stress the importance of dedicating the necessary time to reach an agreement beneficial to both parties.

Your Voice
We have been listening to our Virginia nurses over the last three years through our Nurse Practice Councils, shift huddles, Glint surveys, our Labor Management Committee, as well as through daily conversations with nurse leaders and charge nurses. We will do our best to take those issues into consideration as we prepare our contract proposals.

Working together
As always, we strongly encourage our valued nurses to continue to communicate and seek answers to questions from our leaders directly. Through open dialogue, we can work together as a cohesive team.

Last year, Essentia was able to achieve ratified agreements with 27 separate bargaining units. Essentia, and each of the 27 bargaining units, were able to do this by coming together and looking for common ground focused on delivering high-quality health care to our patients in a sustainable way, ensuring our colleagues have a safe and healthy workplace and providing a competitive wage and benefits package. We are very hopeful to have the same positive results here and will continue to push the MNA to devote the proper time to do so.

 

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.