Allina Health and the Minnesota Nurses Association are returning to the bargaining table for the first time since roughly 4,800 nurses from five hospitals staged a one-week strike in June.
Allina, nurses to resume contract talks
July 12, 2016 at 2:24AM
Talks are set for Friday and July 22, with negotiators expected to address a dispute over the cost and design of the nurses' union-backed health insurance.
Allina believes it would save $10 million per year by switching the nurses to its corporate health plans, which are used by all other employees at Abbott Northwestern Hospital and Phillips Eye Institute in Minneapolis, United Hospital in St. Paul, Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids and Unity Hospital in Fridley.
Nurses have strongly opposed the idea — some because they don't want to surrender such a rich benefit without concessions from Allina, others because they prefer the low-deductible design of the union plans given their high occupational risks for injuries and illnesses.
JEREMY OLSON
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Republicans across the country benefited from favorable tailwinds as President-elect Donald Trump resoundingly defeated Democrat Kamala Harris. But that wasn’t the whole story in Minnesota.
