Registered nurses at the Range Regional Medical Center in Hibbing have reauthorized a strike. A strike vote was OK’d earlier in the spring but the strike was called off on April 29 as negotiations made progress. Now that process will be revisited as mediation was rejected today.
This is the largest hospital north of Duluth, serving a wide swath of the Iron Range and surrounding areas. Some nurses are represented by unions other than the Minnesota Nurses Association, so the hospital would remain open during a potential strike. Nevertheless, this situation is worth monitoring. The clock now begins on a new cooling off period and further negotiations.
Nurses are calling for safer staffing levels on critical floors and more clarity in overtime policy.
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