To help prepare for the upcoming contract negotiations between Essentia's Midwest Medical Equipment & Suplly and the union, surveys have been sent out to all of the workers asking for what issues are most important to you and that you want the union negotiating committee to fight for.  We will be holding a meeting where you can drop off your surveys, ask any questions you may have and share what priorities you think we should have.  That meeting will be at 5:30pm on February 9 at the union office (2002 London Road in Duluth, Room 202).  All union members at Midwest Medical and welcome and encouraged to attend. 

We are still in continuous talks with both St. Luke’s and Essentia Health.  There are going to be more discussions to come.  To date, neither employer has agreed to rescind their vaccine mandation or delay the deadlines, but they are both offering medical and religious exemptions, that from what we’ve seen, appear to be following the EEOC guidelines.  We plan to continue discussions about what constitutes an exemption, requirements for remote workers and of course, the upcoming federal government mandation guidelines that will be published by the CDC. 

In a very close vote, the new proposed Red Book contract at Essentia Health passed. We'd like to sincerely thank everyone that was able to come out and vote yesterday and today - especially those who offered feed back on the issues that concerned them. We are committed to continue to address all of those concerns going forward.