News
Methodist Hospital Housekeepers say “Enough is Enough”
Last week on Thursday, November 2nd, more than 100 members in the Environmental Services Department at Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital formed a delegation and presented their petitions and grievances to the Director of Human Resources. The members said “Enough is Enough”. They were tired of disrespect and poor treatment by the director of the EVS department.
Working conditions have deteriorated so much that two of the supervisors in the department informed members that they were quitting because they were being forced to issue unjust disciplines. The members came together and with the support and guidance of SEIU Executive Board member Brianne Bernini (who works in the Emergency Department at PN Methodist) organized to present their grievances in the most dramatic way possible, with a department wide delegation to Human Resources. EVS members want to see changes, including a commitment to respect our members and our work, a new department manager and we support keeping the supervisors who advocated for fair treatment of our members. With this powerful show of unity by the members, we expect that real change will be coming soon.
UNSTOPPABLE: 2017 Member Convention and Leadership Assembly
SEIU Healthcare Minnesota leaders and members from across the state convened for two days of learning and to set the course of 
our Union. On Friday, September 15, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota leaders spent the day at various workshops. In these workshops members learned about organization equity and inclusion; examined our political future in Minnesota; discussed new and innovative ways that we can create member to member power within our Union and; explored the various ways that laws have been implemented around the country to destroy unions and ways that we can counteract them to continue to be a Union that sets standards and wins for members. Throughout the day SEIU leaders made commitments both to themselves, fellow members and their communities, which included: personally commit to speaking out against bigotry and discrimination of all kinds; Commit to active roles in electing pro-worker and pro-Minnesotan candidates in 2018; make personal leadership commitments to strengthen our Union and our members.
On Saturday, September 16th the fourth annual SEIU Healthcare Minnesota Member Convention was held. Throughout the 
morning, three resolutions were presented and voted on that shaped the course our Union will take over the coming year. These resolutions included: the Midwest Initiative, UNSTOPPABLE: member to member engagement, and a sanctuary union. Click here for a copy of the full resolutions. 
Additionally, a change to the dues structure was proposed, and was passed by 
members. Over the past year SEIU members and leaders have been exploring what happened when other unions were not prepared for open shop/dues check-off, and other anti-worker laws and how important a dues structure change is needed.The changes to our dues structure will help us to be better prepared for the uncertain political climate. For a copy of the approved dues proposal changes, go here.
2017 Convention Resolutions
- SEIU Healthcare Minnesota’s Midwest Initiative Resolution
- UNSTOPPABLE: Member to Member Empowerment Resolution
- SEIU Healthcare Minnesota: “A SANCTUARY UNION” Resolution
- Approved Dues Proposal
SEIU Healthcare Minnesota’s Midwest Initiative Resolution
WHEREAS, increasing corporate power has been allowed and encouraged by our public policies, creating an economy that has been failing the many for the benefit of the few, and
WHEREAS, those in power have been effective at creating and exploiting divisions, especially divisions around race, gender and geography to maintain power regardless of which political party wins an election, and have split and pitted people against each other who are similarly hurt in the current economy, and
WHEREAS, Mayo Clinic has become the largest private sector employer in Minnesota and has also become the largest symbol of run-away corporate power in our state as it demands tax payer funded subsidies to continue operating in Minnesota, seeks to eliminate bargaining rights from workers and is engaged in a pattern of driving down living standards for healthcare workers and communities across the Mid-West, and
WHEREAS, even though workers have won important victories, we need to win on a much greater scale to truly transform our members’ lives, and
WHEREAS, we can no longer rely on the past tactics and theories to win for working families, and therefore must expand methods and try new ways of building solidarity with community members to change the dominant narrative.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT SEIU HEALTHCARE MINNESOTA WILL:
- Partner with progressive organizations across the state to use our collective power to shape the nature of the 2018 elections and set the stage whereby our collective agenda can become the agenda of our state. To accomplish this we will:
- Engage our membership over the next 18 months around our core values and connect our issues with the issues of other organizations to build unity among all Minnesotans and across differences.
- Change the dominant narrative from one of corporate dominance to one powered by the people, so that the issues and values of working families are what candidates must run on to win and govern in Minnesota.
- Create the environment that our issues are winning issues and candidates run for office with us as a partner.
- Develop innovative ways to organize around our issues with our members and our communities.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT SEIU HEALTHCARE MINNESOTA WILL:
- Launch and support C.U.R.E. (Communities United for Rochester Empowerment), to support Mayo workers and community members in holding Mayo Clinic accountable as it builds the Destination Medical Center. We will do this by:
- Advocating for affordable housing and transportation in Rochester, MN.
- Fighting to end outsourcing and benefit cuts among Mayo workers.
- Working to organize unorganized health care workers into our Union.
- Fighting to expand access to Mayo Clinic for patients on Medicaid, Veterans Administration benefits and other health care plans that Mayo Clinic currently does not accept.
- Working for tax fairness in the Rochester community.
UNSTOPPABLE: Member to Member Empowerment Resolution
WHEREAS, we are facing the most profound attack on working people in our local Union’s 84 year history, including court cases that threaten our ability to joining together in unions, regressive federal and state legislation, executive actions and health care cuts, and
WHEREAS, transforming our union to a 21st century organization is both imperative for our Union to survive and thrive in a highly challenging and rapidly changing environment, and a powerful opportunity to modernize, innovate and engage our members and future members in new and deeper ways, and
WHEREAS, our path forward is centered on organizing workers and making unions our central political demand, driving a turnaround in 2018 and beyond by building power in states and cities and creating our 21st century Union through an unprecedented member outreach and engagement effort, and
WHEREAS, we have created leadership roles that focus on the work needed to meet these challenging times, including Political Leader, New Member Leader, Worksite Leader, Grievance Leader and Circle Leader, are determined to have the right people in the right roles, and
WHEREAS, to build national power to achieve economic, immigrant, racial, gender, healthcare, and environmental justice, we will need to engage in an unprecedented member outreach program led by member leaders under SEIU’s “Together We Rise” program.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT SEIU HEALTHCARE MINNESOTA WILL:
- Involve, educate and recommit all members to transform our union to build and sustain the power to win for working people in our rapidly changing environment.
- Strengthen our Union by focusing on building and developing member leaders to engage and reinforce relationships with all members so that we are prepared and ready to fight and win in any future.
- Empower member leaders to understand that their participation is more important than ever to build member networks and structures in order to mobilize around and expand our vision of a just society for all.
- Engage in a sustained equitable process of education and engagement that supports our transformation toward becoming an anti‐racist organization, beginning with developing accountability, structures, practices, policies and analyzing all our work through a racial justice lens.
SEIU Healthcare Minnesota: “A SANCTUARY UNION” Resolution
WHEREAS, our Union has repeatedly adopted resolutions and programs committed to fighting discrimination and oppression in all forms and in all places including our workplaces, communities and in ourselves, and
WHEREAS, our Union has a long and proud history of linking arms with other social-justice movements to build a wider movement that can win on multiple fronts and wield power for working people– regardless of race, immigration status, religion, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation, and
WHEREAS, white supremacists, neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan have said they feel empowered to openly mobilize and come out of the shadows, and inflict further terror on American communities as witnessed in St. Paul, Charlottesville, Boston, and cities across the country, and
WHEREAS, our members and leaders strongly condemned the violence that took place at the Dar Al Farooq Islamic Center, a place of worship in Bloomington, and
WHEREAS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have reportedly been targeting Nursing Homes where many of our immigrant members work, thus increasing levels of fear, anxiety, and insecurity among patients, healthcare workers and their family members, and
WHEREAS, the current administration is rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) that has provided over 800,000 young people (“DREAMERS”) relief from deportation since 2012, and allowed these young people to work, serve in the military, and go to college and, therefore, contribute to the nation’s well-being.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT SEIU HEALTHCARE MINNESOTA WILL:
- Unconditionally denounce fear-mongering, racism, anti-Semitism, bigotry and violence perpetrated by white supremacists, neo-Nazis, the KKK and other hate groups.
- Continue to actively partner with people-of-color-led organizations to fight for issues that are of central importance to our members of color, and fully support the development of an organizational infrastructure needed to make racial equity a lasting priority in our state.
- Call on this Administration to maintain and expand the DACA program, and urge Congress to permanently address the legal status of DREAMERS.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT SEIU HEALTHCARE MINNESOTA WILL:
- Declare itself a “Sanctuary Union” and will:
- Actively protect the rights and safety of every member of our union, our community and all patients regardless of one’s immigration status.
- Not voluntarily cooperate with federal agents to enforce immigration laws – and will not record any information from our members that may be used against them in terms of their immigration status.
- Request that our hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and other healthcare providers declare support and protection of undocumented people and their families, affirmatively creating a welcoming environment as “safe zones” so that no member of our community feels threatened when seeking medical care.
- Commit to holding ‘Know Your Rights’ training and sharing legal resources with our community, and to collectively bargain new contract languages that strengthen workplace protection for our immigrant members.
- Continue to build alliances with others organizations engaged in similar work while continuing to resist on the streets and disrupting structures that attempt to divide us.
Dues Proposal – Approved September 16, 2017
The Executive Board of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota recommends the following changes to the dues structure of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota.
Public Sector Facilities Currently on Traditional SEIU Dues Structure
Effective January 1, 2018, the dues rate for members working in public sector facilities (not including the State home care contract) will be as follows:
2.25% of gross wages, per pay period, to a maximum of $36 per pay period. The minimum dues per pay period will be $5.
Private Sector Facilities Currently on Traditional SEIU Dues Structure
Effective January 1, 2019, the dues rate for members working in private sector facilities will be as follows:
2.25% of gross wages, per pay period, to a maximum of $36 per pay period. The minimum dues per pay period will be $5.
Rochester and Albert Lea Facilities Currently on Flat Rate Dues Structure
Effective January 1, 2019, the dues rate for members working in Rochester and Albert Lea facilities that are currently on a flat rate dues structure will be as follows:
2.25% of gross wages, per pay period, to a maximum of $22 per pay period. The minimum dues per pay period will be $5. The maximum dues per pay period will increase by $.50 each year for five years, starting January 1, 2020.
Duluth, Cloquet and Superior Facilities Currently on Flat Rate Dues Structures
Effective January 1, 2019, the dues rate for members working in Duluth, Cloquet and Superior facilities that are currently on a flat rate dues structure will be as follows:
2.25% of gross wages, per pay period, to a maximum of $20 per pay period. The minimum dues per pay period will be $5. The maximum dues per pay period will increase by $.50 each year for five years, starting January 1, 2020.
Cook County Facility Currently on Flat Rate Dues Structure
Effective January 1, 2018, the dues rate for members working in the Cook County facility that are currently on a flat rate dues structure will be as follows:
2.25% of gross wages, per pay period, to a maximum of $10 per pay period. The minimum dues per pay period will be $5. The maximum dues per pay period will increase by $1.50 each year for five years, starting January 1, 2019.
Home Care Dues for Members Currently on Percentage Dues Structure
Effective January 1, 2019, the dues rate for members working in home care under the State contract will be as follows:
3% of gross wages, per pay period, to a maximum of $36 per pay period. The minimum dues per pay period will be $5.
In all cases the Executive Board of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota shall have the authority to approve a reasonable delay in implementation of the changes for administrative or organizing purposes to reduce the percentage or maximum dues rates per pay period, for any members in any bargaining unit, for administrative or organizing purposes, provided that there is no resulting dues increase for any members of the Union.
Members working under contracts with more, or fewer, than 26 pay periods per year, will have the per pay period percentages, minimums and maximums adjusted to be equal to the 26 pay period calculation in the above dues structure.
SEIU Condemns Terror Attacks
SEIU members and leaders have categorically condemned the violence that took place at the Dar Al Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minnesota last week and again in Charlottesville, Virginia last weekend. Our Union pledges to continue to fight to eliminate racism wherever it is found!
Several members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota worship at the Dar Al Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, MN. They want and deserve a place to worship without fear and we stand with them and all members of the Muslim faith at this time.
In Charlottesville, Virginia, a violent, hate filled rally by right wing extremists like the KKK and Neo Nazis resulted in the death of Heather Heyer, a counter protester, and dozens of additional injuries. The rally was billed as an opportunity for white Americans to fight the influence of Jews in our culture. We stand with our Jewish sisters and brothers, with all immigrants and people of color and everyone else who was targeted by the speeches filled with hate.
As Trade Unionists it is of vital importance that we fight racism wherever we see it. We will make no progress improving our society, our workplaces, or the position of working families in our country unless we reckon with the history of racism and its continuing impact on our lives. Race is a social construct invented to divide us and it is only by coming together, not by ignoring our differences but by embracing and working across our differences, that we are able to make progress.
In the words of Nelson Mandela “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love. For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
I also want to echo the words of our own Executive Vice President Jigme Ugen, who emailed a message out to the SEIU staff yesterday- “We must condemn white nationalism, reject hatred, and organize our communities to eliminate racism at all levels. Meanwhile, please take time to care for yourself and those around you with understanding and solidarity founded on the basis of love and humanity.”
I call on all on of us as Union leaders to pause and reflect; to share your thoughts and feelings this week with friends, family and co-workers.
In Love and Solidarity,
Jamie Gulley
SEIU HCMN President
Tentative Agreement Reached with Twin City Hospitals; Ratification Votes Scheduled
After two days of bargaining, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota has reached a Tentative Agreement with Twin City Hospitals. Ratification votes will take place at each hospital next week, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. The vote count will be held at 5pm at the SEIU Healthcare Minnesota office (345 Randolph Ave., Suite 100, Saint Paul, MN 55102) and all members are invited to attend.
Click here to review the Tentative Agreement.
Ratification Vote Times
Children’s St. Paul: Thursday, August 17; 8:00am – 5:00pm, Café
Children’s Minneapolis: Wednesday, August 16, 8:00am – 6:00pm, Education Center
Fairview Southdale: Wednesday, August 16, Education Room #1; 6:30am-9:00am • 11:00am-1:00pm • 3:00pm-5:30pm
Fairview UMMC: Wednesday, August 16; 6:30am-11:00am, Dining Room E; 11:00am – 6:00pm, Dining Room D
HealthEast Bethesda: Wednesday, August 16; Conference Room 2; 6:30am – 8:30am • 11:00am – 1:00pm • 2:30pm – 5:30pm
HealthEast St. John’s: Friday, August 18; Watson Room 3, 6:30am – 8:30am • 11:00am – 1:00pm • 2:30pm – 4:00pm
Methodist Park Nicollet: Thursday, August 17; 6:30am – 12:00pm, Cafeteria Conference Room #3; 12:00pm – 1:00pm, HVC-E; 1:45pm – 6:00pm, Cafeteria Conference Room #3
North Memorial Medical Center: Thursday, August 17, 6:30am-9am; Sunset Board Room; 11:00am-1:00pm • 3:00pm-5:30pm, Café Conference room (off the main café)
Mayo Food Service Workers with SEIU Healthcare Minnesota Vote Overwhelmingly to Approve Contract with Morrison
Food service workers see gains in pay, benefits and security for families in first contract with new employer following Mayo’s outsourcing
Rochester, Minn— After multiple days of voting, Mayo food service workers who were outsourced last year in a controversial decision by Mayo voted overwhelmingly to approve a new contract with Morrison. The bargaining team of food service workers from Mayo sites across Southern Minnesota started negotiating with their new employer Morrison in March and wrapped up last Tuesday evening. The contract achieved the goals food service workers had going in to bargaining around protecting worker standards, namely winning union insurance, a union retirement plan and preserving and advancing wage rates. A summary of the agreement is at the bottom of this release.
Winning the five-year contract follows a year of activity that saw multiple pickets outside of Mayo and immense community support for the workers and their families. Food service workers stood strong through all of the tumult to make certain food service jobs remained good jobs that would support families in our community. Workers, many with decades of experience, knew that winning this fight and maintaining standards would mean patients and visitors to Mayo facilities would be able to get the service that they deserved.
Some of the largest gains were made by food service workers who were previously employed by Sodexo, a group that voted overwhelmingly to join SEIU Healthcare Minnesota following the uproar around Mayo’s plan for food service workers. John Predmore is a 16 years food service worker from Rochester who was one of the Sodexo workers who voted to join SEIU Healthcare Minnesota last fall. After the vote, he commented on his excitement about the overwhelming “yes” vote by SEIU members approving the contract.
“I am so happy we voted to approve our contract. We hope this win shows all Mayo employees that by standing together positive changes can happen. We demanded respect and it feels good to know that we have a strong contract going forward. We went from lots of concerns when we heard the news, when things were very bleak and stressful, to joining the union and winning this great first contract. This gives our families the stability we need,” said Predmore. “We finally have some piece of mind around insurance, time off, retirement and wages. It’s a weight off our shoulders. It is good to know we are part of a union that will help watch our back. Like everyone who works to make sure Mayo provides a great experience for our patients, we know we have value no matter who signs our paycheck. This feels so good and we are so proud to have this contract passed.”
The contract will last five years. Some of the highlights of the contract include:
- Initial wage increases between 2.5% and 42%
- 5 year contract duration with 2.5 % wage increases each year for existing employees and 2% increases to the start rates each year
- Increased PTO and Holiday Pay
- Full Union Health Insurance for both part-time and full-time members and improved dental coverage
- Defined contribution 401K, $.50 per hour worked paid by the Employer
- Overtime pay after 8 hours, requirements for defined shift times, and weekend shift differentials
- Increased life insurance, Short Term Disability options and improved Bereavement Leave
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After Tumultuous End to Legislative Session, Home Care Workers Celebrate Ratification of New Agreement – And Resolve to Fight for Full Funding to be Restored
New union contract raises pay floor, increases paid time off, grants holiday pay for the first time, funds training, and more, to help address care crisis facing seniors and people with disabilities across Minnesota
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Care workers and clients express frustration at anti-union group who attacked care workers, leading to a cut of half of the desperately needed funding, vow to continue fight to solve the state’s care crisis
Saint Paul — Home care workers and the state of Minnesota reached a new agreement for a union contract that covers approximately 27,000 Minnesota home care workers, with union members ratifying the contract Monday evening after a week of voting. The new contract will go into effect on July 1st. The two sides had to negotiate a new contract after elected officials cut funding in half for the previous tentative agreement in the final Health and Human Services (HHS) Omnibus budget bill that was passed by the State House and Senate and signed into law by Governor Dayton late last month.
The decrease in funding, which will slow the work being done to address the care crisis facing seniors and people with disabilities across Minnesota, came after repeated attacks on care workers and their clients from anti-union attorney Doug Seaton and the Center of the American Experiment. In legislative testimony, these groups – which have run a large-scale campaign since last summer to stop the union from negotiating a new agreement – advocated that legislators vote down raises and new benefits for home care workers. In expressing their anger at the reduction in funding that came as a result of these anti-union groups’ attacks, home care workers vowed to continue their fight next session, to restore funding to address the care crisis in Minnesota.
“So many good people all across the state worked hard pushing our elected officials to address the care crisis that is harming thousands of families like mine. Home care workers and clients like me negotiated in good faith earlier this year, but at the very end of the legislative session politicians decided to only fund half of what we had agreed to with the state, which is incredibly frustrating,” said Jim Carlisle, a home care client who counts on care for himself and his wife to be able to stay in their home. “We made some important steps forward in this new agreement, but the crisis in our state is well beyond the point where any half-measures will suffice.”
“This is, without exaggeration, a life or death situation for someone like me who relies on quality caregivers to get out of bed and do basic tasks like eating and leaving my house,” Carlisle continued. “I’m proud we won the gains we did, but we are still a long way from where we need to be. What we’ve proven over the last few months is that we won’t let any attacks or setbacks stop us. We will fight to ensure every person who needs care has access to quality caregivers.”
Despite the challenges of fighting frivolous lawsuits and attacks from deep-pocketed special interest groups, union members expressed pride in the tireless effort put forward by people across the state to bring attention to the care crisis.
“Progress simply would not have happened without our union. We are so happy that we have a collective voice in this critical fight,” said Yasmine Soud Reynolds, a home care worker from White Bear Lake. “By coming together as home care workers, family members and clients from across the state, we have made it clear to everyone that we will be invisible no more. Because we worked together and told our stories, we had a group of legislators from both political parties author the bills to ratify and fund the original agreement we reached with the state in January. When some union-busting lawyers tried to block that bipartisan support for the wage and benefit improvements we so desperately need, the only reason we were able to resist their efforts and still make progress through this new agreement is that we stayed united. They were able to get elected officials to reduce the funding, but they weren’t able to stop us from moving forward. We’ll be back next session to keep pushing for our state to address the care crisis, starting with restoring the funding lawmakers just cut.”
With the funding cut in half, the union’s bargaining team of workers, parents and clients had to go back to the bargaining table and reach a new agreement with the state, after engaging thousands of members in a difficult discussion of how to balance priorities. The new agreement was ratified after a week of voting that ended Monday evening.
Provisions of the new contract include:
- A $1 an hour increase to the minimum wage for home care workers (the new floor is $12)
- Time-and-a-half pay for workers who take care of their clients on five holidays, a benefit no home care workers in the state have had before
- An increase in the amount of Paid Time Off home care workers earn
- Training stipends for 5,000 workers who take voluntary trainings to build their skills in order to provide higher quality care
- An online matching registry to help address the struggle clients face when trying to find quality care workers to bring into their homes
- A 5% additional increase for those who work for the highest-need clients (defined as those who qualify for 12 or more hours per day of in-home care)
While proud of the gains, Delores Flynn, whose 46-year-old son Scott needs full time care after suffering a major brain hemorrhage, vowed that families will be back next session to demand that the funding lawmakers cut be restored
“We will continue to fight until every Minnesotan who needs care has access to the quality care they need to stay in their home. We expect politicians to do right by restoring the funding they cut,” said Flynn, who lives in Roseville. “There is a crisis happening across our state. If this crisis hasn’t touched you or someone you love yet, it will. When it does, you will realize that this isn’t an issue we can ignore. With the coming wave of baby boomers who will want quality care to stay in their homes, this crisis is only going to grow if it is not truly addressed. Care work should not be a political issue, but it is frustrating that money desperately needed by our families was caught up in political games. We cannot risk having people with disabilities and seniors go without the care they need due to the chronic shortage of workers. It is far more expensive to care for people in a facility than it is providing care for them in their homes. Elected officials from all parties should make restoring the home care funding they cut the very first bill they pass when they come back to St. Paul.”
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SEIU Healthcare Minnesota unites more than 35,000 healthcare and long-term care workers in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and home care throughout the state of Minnesota.