STILLWATER, Minn. — Over 80 members of Service Employees International Union Minnesota & Iowa held a four-day strike here July 8-11 as they fight for a contract from HealthPartners SMG clinic. The strikers are licensed practical nurses, certified medical assistants and other positions in the Family Medicine, OB/GYN, Pediatrics and Specialties departments.
“We’re out here fighting for a living wage,” Ellie Conway, a certified medical assistant in the OB/GYN department and member of the negotiating committee, told the Militant. “Our wages are not keeping up with the cost of living.”
James Willgains, an organizer with SEIU Minnesota & Iowa, said, “We are fighting for wages that can catch us up over the next few years. The United Steelworkers and the AFL-CIO have been supporting us.”
At a picket line rally July 10 it was announced HealthPartners had asked for negotiations to resume the next day.
“They presented us with a proposal that did not move forward on even one item from what they had proposed the last time we met,” SEIU bargaining team member Susan Ribanszky posted on Facebook afterward. “The only move they made, in fact, was backwards.
“We are determined to fight for what we deserve,” she said, “and will be voting on whether to authorize a longer ULP [unfair labor practice] strike.”
— Kevin Dwire and Dennis Richter