News

Through the MNA Foundation the Minnesota Nurses Association has established the Mary Eliza Mahoney Scholarship, named in honor of America’s first African-American graduate nurse. This scholarship will provide financial support to a fellow union member who wants to become a nurse and a member of the MNA. This scholarship serves to recognize an outstanding union member who has begun their path to a nursing career.

The Mahoney scholar will receive $2,500 per semester of nursing school up to a total of $10,000.

SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT CRITERIA

• Must be a union member of a healthcare union in good standing.
• Must be enrolled in an accredited nursing program and must have completed a minimum of one semester.
• Indigenous people and people of color especially encouraged to apply.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

• Online Application Form (to be found on the MNA website): https://mnnurses.org/resources/mnaf/
• Official Academic Transcript
• An essay (maximum 2 pages) that addresses the following:
  • Describe your experience of diversity and inclusion in healthcare.
  • Why do you want to become a nurse?
  • What does being a union member mean to you?
• 3 letters of recommendation:
  • 1 recommendation must be from your union leadership (for example: a steward, elected leader or staff person from SEIU).
  • 1 recommendation must be from an academic source, a faculty member who has taught you in class or an academic advisor.
  • 1 recommendation may be from a personal reference. This person may be a co-worker or a manager who can comment on your work ethic. This person could also be someone from your community, a religious organization, or related to volunteer work or any areas of leadership in your life.
• Complete applications are due by June 1, 2019.
• No incomplete or late applications will be considered.

If you have questions about the application process contact Linda Owens at 1-800-536-4662, ext. 122, 651-414-2822, or Linda.Owens@mnnurses.org.
If you have questions about the application requirements contact Megan Gavin at 1-800-536-4662, ext. 162, 651-414-2862, or Megan.Gavin@mnnurses.org.

On Wednesday, April 24 from 10-11am, we will be joining Insulin for All (led by our own member James Holt, Jr. and his wife Nicole, who suffered the tragic death of their son Alec from trying to ration his own insulin), AARP, and several other partner organizations to take action at the Capitol. We will be demanding that lawmakers take action to rein in the out-of-control rise in prescription drug costs, and that they ensure emergency access to life-saving drugs like insulin. Come join us! You can RSVP here.

Also, if you or a loved one have struggled to afford prescription drugs, we want to hear your story so we can share it with lawmakers, along with the stories of hundreds of other Minnesotans. Please email Executive Vice President Phillip Cryan at phillip.cryan@seiuhcmn.org to let him know you have a story to share.

On Monday, April 15^th, 2019, SEIU members at Stillwater Medical Group rallied together over the lunch hour for an informational picket! The SEIU members at SMG organized their union last summer, and have been fighting for their first union contract since. Meanwhile, SMG, which is owned by HealthPartners has been dragging their feet at the bargaining table. Currently, more than 25% of the jobs at SMG are vacant, due to their low wages and unfavorable working conditions that result from chronic short staffing.

The picket line was well attended, with union supporters from across the East Metro region joining SMG members on the picket line. Stay tuned for what happens next, as SEIU members at SMG prepare full page ads in the Stillwater newspaper to highlight their campaign for a contract that treats workers right and makes sure that HealthPartners patients in the East Metro get the high-quality care the deserve.

SAINT PAUL—In response to the budget released today by Governor Walz and Lt. Governor Flanagan that proposes cuts for some Minnesota nursing homes, St. Charles nursing home worker and SEIU Healthcare Minnesota member Jeanne Schulz released the following statement.

“Minnesotans are caring and compassionate. We believe that our family, friends and neighbors living in nursing homes like the one where I work — no matter their race, income or zip code — should be able to have what they need to live full and happy lives. Seeing a proposed cut for nursing homes in the budget, without clarity on who that cut will effect, is worrisome to those of us who do this critical work every day.

“We understand that the proposal says cuts would be focused on reining in ballooning costs for out-of-state management and executives, and we share a strong concern about the wave of acquisitions of Minnesota nursing homes by out-of-state companies in recent months and the impact those changes have had on nursing residents and workers. But we know that the line-item being targeted for cuts, called “other operating costs,” includes many hard-working frontline staff, not just management and administration. Members like me whose main job is to cook the food, clean the building, take out the trash, or work in the laundry are considered “other operating costs” simply because we are not doing the direct resident care a nursing assistant or nurse performs. And many of us are already making $3-$5/hour less than our nursing-assistant coworkers because the reimbursement reform passed by state lawmakers in 2015 focused only on the workers involved in direct care.

“We made important progress in 2015 by increasing nursing home funding all across Minnesota, but we still have a ways to go to make sure every nursing home is a world-class facility for residents and staff. A good reimbursement system needs to invest in workers, not out-of-state administrators. As this proposal moves forward we hope to get some important questions answered, to make sure the state is cutting out real waste and unnecessary expenses, not taking from the front-line employees who keep our buildings clean and our seniors fed. The lives of thousands of Minnesotans across our state depend on it.”

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The SEIU Minnesota State Council coordinates the electoral, legislative and outreach work of the SEIU Locals in Minnesota to increase the effectiveness of their efforts to organize unorganized workers in critical sectors of our economy, improve wages, hours and working conditions, and build political and legislative power for all workers and their families.  The State Council’s board is comprised of elected leaders, SEIU members and staff of the various SEIU Local Unions in Minnesota, and that board, with the active participation and input of our broader membership, determines our endorsements.

SAINT PAUL — Late Monday night the home care workers of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota reached a Tentative Agreement (TA) with the state of Minnesota for their third union contract, a two-year contract that would begin in July of 2019.

The bargaining team — made up of home care workers, clients and family caregivers — negotiated with the state over three months to reach this agreement. The bargaining team fought to address the care crisis, a workforce shortage that has grown to over 8,000 openings because of the low wages and lack of benefits for this work. This crisis continues to result in seniors and people with disabilities not being able to find workers to provide the care that they need to stay safely in their homes.

The full details of the TA won’t be shared until members have a chance to see the tentative agreement and vote on its approval, but highlights include funding so reimbursement rates and client budgets will go up 2.37% for everyone, with those making the minimum wage seeing a 10.4% wage increase from $12 to $13.25; $750,000 for trainings and orientation to help workers gain and build skills; increased Paid Time Off; and an additional increase in wages for workers serving clients who need the highest hours of care.

Dalene Annen, a home care worker on the bargaining team from rural Minnesota, shared her feelings about the tentative agreement as someone who does this critical work.

“The work done by home care workers is critical for thousands of families across Minnesota, which is why we fight so hard to improve our industry. We’re proud of the gains that we’ve made in this contract, but we know that we have a lot more work to do to get the kind of wages, benefits and recognition that can fix the care crisis,” said Annen, who lives in Winnebago, a small town near the Iowa border. “The money we secured for home care workers and our clients will help to make a more dedicated workforce and move us to our goal of making sure that every Minnesotan– no where we live, the color of our skin, or our income– can get quality care to be able to stay in their homes and not be forced into institutions. Because we’ve stuck together, caregivers are getting better wages and benefits than we had before.”

If the Tentative Agreement gets ratified by Union members, it will then go to the legislature for their approval and funding. The final step would be having it signed by Governor Walz and go into effect July 1st, 2019. The negotiations took place in the months preceding budget negotiations in order to ensure that legislators have the opportunity to review the terms of the proposed agreement and vote on whether to ratify it.

Lauren Thompson, a client who was on the bargaining team, stressed the importance of the legislature ratifying the agreement once it gains approval from home care workers.

“After years of under investment in this workforce, and undervaluing the people who rely on these services, this contract is a step towards addressing the care crisis. Elected officials statewide must look beyond party lines and understand the importance of investing in home care. It is a matter of dignity and quality of life, it is a matter of survival,” said Thompson. “Home care workers, clients and our families will be at the Capitol this session to make sure that the contract gets ratified and that these gains are upheld. We will continue to strive for better wages, benefits and professional standards that home care workers deserve. This is vital so that I, and the thousands of other Minnesotans like me, will be able to survive and thrive in our homes and in our community.”