MINNEAPOLIS — Following a powerful two-day Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike on March 25th-26th, nursing home workers with SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa reached an agreement on a new contract with their employer, Providence Place, at the end of last week. Following the tentative agreement, workers voted unanimously to ratify the contract.
Amy Oliver, a HUC at Providence Place who has worked in the healthcare industry since 2011 and member of the SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa bargaining team, shared her excitement at this agreement that came just weeks after workers went on strike:
“I’m excited for the gains we made in this contract, especially things like the experience wage scale that honors the experience of those of us who have done this work for so many years, in addition to the many other gains. I’m really proud of us for standing up when we went on strike last month and showing that our union is strong. When we got back to the table we reached a fair compromise for the next two years. We’re ready to take these gains and keep building towards our next bargaining in 2027 to win even more!”
Highlights of the two-year agreement include:
Two-year contract with 6% wage increases each year across all job classifications.
- A new Nursing Assistant will now earn $21.48 in 2025 and $22.56 in 2026.
Wage increases are retroactive to March 1, 2025
Over 40 additional vacation hours earned through improved accrual rates.
Full benefits begin after the probationary period, no longer delayed.
Stronger protections and improvements on:
- Guaranteed hours
- 403(b) retirement plan
- Seniority recognition
In early March four nursing homes represented by SEIU Healthcare MN & IA announced potential ULP strikes. The member bargaining team with SEIU Healthcare MN & IA and Regina Senior Living in Hastings, The Villas at St. Louis Park and Cerenity Senior Care-Humboldt in St. Paul all reached agreements for new union contracts, but Providence Place workers went out on ULP strike starting March 25th.
The strike came as both workers and management agree there is a crisis caused by short staffing. While fighting for fair union contracts, workers also continue to focus on protecting the Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board, which was created in 2023 to address this crisis and ensure that our money was being used to support the workers, with the goal of avoiding the blank checks for nursing home owners of the past that have gotten us into this situation.
A 2023 survey of over 1,300 Minnesota nursing home workers found two out of three nursing home workers (66%) report struggling to meet their household’s basic needs every month. Half of nursing home workers (49%) reported making $20/hour or less and 80% reported making less than $25/hour, well below the cost of living in the Twin Cities. An overwhelming majority surveyed (92%) said raising the minimum wage to $25/hour would make a significant impact to address the worker shortage.
Currently the nursing home associations are suing to get rid of the Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board and roll back the time-and-a-half holiday pay that has already gone into effect for nursing home workers across the state along with the forthcoming minimum wage increases.
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