SNV Special Interview: MNA Nurses Ratify Contracts (And The Struggle Continues)

Recorded (12/15/2022) and Uploaded (12/22/2022) In this Special we have a chat with Danielle Gilbert who has been on the podcast before. Gilbert is a nurse at Methodist Hospital in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU), Pre-op and Operating Room (OR). We discuss the recent ratification of contracts by 15K Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) member nurses across Minnesota, which happened shortly before nurses were scheduled to go out on a 20 day STRIKE. We also discuss a proposed merger between South-Dakota based Sanford Health and M Health Fairview, ongoing issues within the hospitals in the Twin Cities and what the future of Healthcare looks like. Here are links to articles that cover topics related to what we discussed in this Special Interview: MNA nurses vote “overwhelmingly” to ratify contracts: https://www.wdio.com/front-page/top-stories/mna-nurses-vote-overwhelmingly-to-ratify-contracts/ Minnesota nurses win major staffing and wage concessions on eve of strike: https://www.liberationnews.org/minnesota-nurses-win-major-staffing-and-wage-concessions-on-eve-of-strike/ Sanford-Fairview merger would be bad for Minnesota health care: https://minnesotareformer.com/2022/12/19/sanford-fairview-merger-would-be-bad-for-minnesota-health-care/ Tripled pay is great for travel nurses, but not for struggling Missouri and Kansas hospitals: https://www.kcur.org/health/2022-12-01/tripled-pay-is-great-for-travel-nurses-but-not-for-struggling-missouri-and-kansas-hospitals Hospitals in the US are the fullest they’ve been throughout the pandemic – but it’s not just Covid: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/08/health/hospitals-full-not-just-covid/index.html Sanford to hire more than 700 foreign nurses by 2025: https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/nursing/sanford-to-hire-more-than-700-foreign-nurses-by-2025.html?fbclid=IwAR08qmLbLBRCztI9bxEhT_JFakKdEO30NeZMTIhP5eDe5uGeFZjcKsVsFD4 M Health Fairview Executive Health: https://mhealthfairview.org/specialties/Executive-Health?fbclid=IwAR3o_Q7Xz2c2awt0KNJUPztoOVC-v1PAkDlLmdJlIbsOxpCV9SVGX8bxt2Q ---- STARBUCKS WORKERS DOUBLE DOWN: UNION STORES GO ON NATIONWIDE THREE DAY STRIKE: https://sbworkersunited.org/press/starbucks-workers-double-downnbspunion-stores-go-on-nationwide-three-day-strike Minnesota Historical Society employees rally as contract talks continue: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/12/18/minnesota-historical-society-employees-rally-as-contract-talks-continue Workers speak from the picket lines of largest nurses strike in UK history: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/12/20/mgnd-d20.html