Blog

Green Book Tentative Agreement Passed

The vote count for the Green Book Tentative Agreement with Essentia Health happened tonight at 5pm. It passed. Thank you to everyone who voted and to everyone who participated in our workplace and community actions during negotiations!

The retro pay for the recently ratified new contract will appear on folks November 22 paycheck.

Green Book TA Information Meeting

Just a reminder that the union is going to be holding a Q & A session on the Green Book Tentative Agreement on Oct. 24. It will be an in person meeting this Thursday at 5:20pm in the basement of the Duluth Labor Temple. If you know anyone who still has questions about the TA, and wasn't able to attend the Oct. 9 online meeting, this is a great chance for them to get more info. We'll be meeting in Hall A. The easiest way to get there is to enter through the door of the building that faces Lake Superior. If you drive there, you can park on any side of the building.

Green Book Tentative Agreement

The Negotiating Committee has reached a tentative agreement with Essentia. Copies of the TA have been mailed out to everyone in the Green Book, along with info about how to vote. You can also view an online copy of the TA at this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UI4MvSFEmbkeKkJck3Nvaon_6GsAKyCY/view?usp=sharing

Vacancy on Our Executive Board

One of our elected Trustees has stepped down. The procedure for when that happens is anyone who wants to apply to fill out the remainder of their term (which would be for 2 and a half years) can apply, and the local union's Executive Board selects one of the candidates. If you're interested in being one of our Trustees, fill out the application linked here, and get it to our office by 5pm on Monday, Sept. 16 (you can email it to [email protected] or drop it off at Room 206 of the Duluth Labor Temple). FYI, trustees get together at least quarterly to audit our books and they also get to attend and vote at our monthly Executive Board meetings. It comes with a monthly stipend of $75.

Local 9460 Collecting Art Supplies for Amberwing Patients

Local 9460 of the Steelworkers has members that are deployed in many different positions throughout our community. One of those locations is Amberwing Center for Youth and Family Wellbeing.

Essentia Found Guilty of Health & Safety Violations

Essentia Health recently was found guilty of half a dozen health & safety violations by OSHA (the federal Department of Labor’s Occupational Health & Safety Administration). Each violation came with a fine of several thousand dollars, concrete remedies and a notice that the company has to post. The notices have been posted by Essentia in the basement of the 3rd Street Clinic. They are in the SW hallway that leads to the abandoned laundry chute closet and the boiler room. Feel free to swing down there and take a look at them, or we are posting copies of them below.

Green Book Negotiations Update

The Union and Employer met this past Thursday and Friday in an attempt to come to a reasonable and fair contract for the Greenbook contract.
Here is a run down of the items that were discussed and the positions that the two sides took:

Sign Petition in Support of Workers @ Essentia Health!

The 1,000 workers covered by Local 9460's "Green Book" contract are locked in a tough negotiations battle with Essentia Health. As usual, Essentia is refusing to offer its workers a decent raise - while turning around and giving another massive raise to their CEO, David Herman.  But in addition to that, the company is insisting that workers accept new contract language that would turn everyone into a giant float pool that could be sent to any facility to do any job.  That means if you're a West Duluth Clinical Assistant, you could suddenly be sent to work downtown.  Or if you're a Financial Counselor, you could suddenly be sent to empty trash cans with Environmental Services.  This would not only be massively disruptive to workers' lives, but it also poses serious concerns about quality of patient care.  Workers learn a whole range of skills by working in the same department day after day, skills which somebody who is parachuted in for the day can't possibly pick up during a five minute orientation.

As can be expected, workers are outraged.  They have written and are circulating a petition against these proposals.  We are asking everyone to stand in solidarity with us by signing and sharing it.  Thank you in advance for your support!  Here is the petition link: https://shorturl.at/oS9tB