Blog

REMINDER: St. Luke's Conctract Vote This Wednesday

The vote on the tentative agreement for the St. Luke's tech workers contract will be on July 3. Voting will take place at the USW Local 9460 office from 6am to 4pm. Our office is in Room 206 of the Duluth Labor Temple, which is located at 2002 London Road.

Green Book Negotiations Update

Congrats on standing up this week and telling Essentia Health that we were insulted at their offer of only 2.1%. Union stickers and car signs could be seen across the Twin Ports! As a result of our actions, and the work of our Negotiating Committee, Essentia did increase their offer. However, it was only a fraction of a percent. So we go back to the bargaining table on July 24 & 25. However, stay tuned, since we will be holding a series of actions before then to step up the pressure. We can and will win a fair and equitable contract!

Changes to Essentia's Employee Vaccine Policies

FYI, Essentia Health is changing their policy towards flu and COVID vaccines. Workers at Essentia will no longer be required to get annual flu or COVID vaccines as a condition of employment. Here is a copy of the memo that they sent to the union: https://drive.google.com/file/d/161ScALgHsLWhkXZUSM0YkAbTSKI7zc3J/view?usp=sharing

Green Book Stickers & Car Signs Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday

We are asking everyone in the Green Book to wear a sticker and put a sign in the back window of their parked car, as a show of union strength and solidarity. Wear those stickers and show those signs today, tomorrow and Wednesday. If you need supplies, here is the info on where you can get some:

Green Book Negotiations Update #6

We're getting down to the final stretch of negotiations, and Essentia is low balling us on wages. The Negotiating Committee is asking everyone to wear a union sticker and display a union sign in their car this coming Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday! Here is the link for the latest update - be sure to spread it far and wide:  https://shorturl.at/OFI5O

Local Union Election Update

We held our election for union offices back on April 18 using mail in ballots. However, a significant number of ballots arrived after the count. This was the result of the unpredictable delivery schedule of today's postal service. At our May membership meeting, we voted to count any ballot that was post marked by April 17 or earlier. Today we counted those ballots. Our Election Committee will present its election report at tomorrow's monthly membership meeting (5:30pm in the basement of the Duluth Labor Temple). In the meantime, here are the prelimary, unofficial results:

In the race for president, Lindajean Thompson won.
In the race for Vice President, Jared Jank won.
In the race for Treasurer, Brenda Simon won.
In the race for Guide, Brynn Schwab won.
In the race for St. Luke's Unit Chair, Scott Guenard won.

St. Luke's Hospital Negotiations Update

Negotiations last year resulted in a one year contract rather than the typical three, because there was a lot of uncertainty over St. Luke’s future and the merger with Aspirus.  Negotiations for the new Hospital contract are underway.  The union is asking for fair and equitable wage increases across the board, but so far the company has not responded with their own economic proposals.  We go back to the table on June 17 & 21, and after that we’ll have a better picture on how big a fight we’re going to have on our hands. 

Green Book Negotiations Update #5

GREEN BOOK NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE: Your Union Negotiating Committee met with the company yesterday. We kicked off economic proposals. Our proposals focused on:

- Fair and equitable across the board wage increases
- Elimination of two-tier wages, moving every employee to the pre-2010 hire date wage grid.

To our surprise, Essentia Health is willing to consider the elimination of two-tier wages!

Over the last few weeks YOU HAVE STEPPED UP to show the company that you are opposed to their TAMs proposal. Hundreds of you raised your voice and signed our survey, participated in our sticker day, and/ or showed up to informational meetings! Because of your solidarity, Essentia Health has agreed to withdraw the majority of the TAMs proposal! We have one battle left! Essentia wants to reduce PTO banks to 1.25 times annual accrual instead of our current 1.5 times. We will continue to oppose this.