ALBERT LEA, Minn. – Mayo employees picketed their hospital here Tuesday to draw attention to stalled labor talks — a move that Mayo officials dismissed as political grandstanding timed for the holidays.
The one-day strike at Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea included about 80 maintenance and general workers who accused the hospital of cutting positions, threatening to take benefits, and refusing to negotiate.
"They want to take away our basic union rights," said Charlotte Nelson-Shocker, a 28-year employee who helps manage hospital supplies. Mayo hasn't replaced retiring workers in her department for at least two years, she said.
Members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota began the one-day walkout Tuesday at 6 a.m., saying Mayo has threatened to lock out some of the striking workers for a week because of the need to hire temporary workers.
Mayo Clinic Health System says the facility will remain open during the strike. It says the union didn't even ask for a bargaining session until recently, and that a negotiation session has been scheduled for later this month.
The strike drew attention from political leaders across the state, including several gubernatorial candidates who rallied with the striking workers Tuesday morning. Gov. Mark Dayton and Lt. Gov. Tina Smith, who chairs a corporate board overseeing Mayo's $5.6 billion Rochester expansion, issued statements that urged both sides to resolve the impasse, with Smith telling Mayo that locking out workers over the holidays is "unacceptable."
Striking worker Henry Tews, a boiler operator and plumber during his 28 years at the hospital, said he's gone nearly three years without a contract. Mayo's position has been inflexible, with their representatives saying, "This is what we'll give you. Take it or leave it," he said.
The strike opened a second public relations front for Mayo in Albert Lea, where the hospital has been in the public eye for months over plans to move most inpatient services to Austin, some 23 miles away. Emergency room and inpatient behavioral health care plus outpatient services will stay in Albert Lea.