Find the answers to your peers’ top questions below. NEW frequently asked questions are marked “new” below. Have questions you don’t see answered here? Submit yours via email to nursequestions@essentiahealth.org.
We value our ability to work directly with our nurse colleagues. In our opinion, MNA representation brings undesirable risks associated with collective bargaining (i.e., potential conflict, lost flexibility, seniority-based decisions, etc.). We prefer to collaborate directly with our nurse colleagues to be the best we can be. In addition, we’ve seen the MNA call Essentia nurses out on strike. In our view, healthcare strikes are disruptive and put patients and communities at risk.
We regret you’re experiencing peer pressure from others; this type of pressure is common when unions are involved. All Essentia nurses have the right to choose to support and not to support the union. This means you can choose not to sign a card or petition if asked; and you can choose to vote “no” (against the union) even if you previously supported the union.
Any election scheduled at an Essentia clinic would be supervised by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and would be conducted by secret ballot. No one will ever know how you vote (unless you tell them).
The MNA would determine whether or not your dues (or service fees) would increase. Unions are businesses and, like other businesses, it is possible that, in the future, the MNA could increase what they charge bargaining unit members for union representation.
Unions have sole discretion to decide how much to charge in dues, service fees, initiation fees, or monetary fines for violating union rules. Employers do not have a say in what amount the union charges and union dues are not bargained during contract negotiations.
If the MNA is elected, it’s likely the union will expect every nurse who was eligible to vote to pay union dues (or service fees) to remain employed at Essentia. This includes nurses who didn’t support the union, nurses who voted “no,” (against the union) and even nurses who don’t vote at all.
All bargaining unit members would then be obligated to follow all terms of a contract the MNA might negotiate for you, even terms you might not like.
Minnesota does not have a “right-to-work” law, which means the MNA would likely negotiate for an “Association Security” clause like the “Association Security” clause the MNA negotiated in the current Twin Ports contract. That clause entitles the MNA to demand Essentia terminate employment for bargaining unit members who don’t pay. Specifically, Section 8 of the Twin Ports contract states, “Any nurse who fails to pay the service fee or dues required by the Agreement shall, upon written notice of such action from the Association to the Employer, be terminated by the Employer within fourteen (14) calendar days.”
If the MNA is elected at any Essentia Health ambulatory clinic, then nurses at that clinic would become members of the bargaining unit and would not be able to “opt out” of union representation. However, each nurse would have the individual right to join or decline to join the MNA as a union member.
Those who decline to join the MNA as union members are still expected to pay “representation fees” (i.e., “service fees”) to cover a non-member’s fair share of the cost of union representation. These fees are typically just slightly less than full member dues.
Importantly, non-members who pay representation fees are typically prohibited from attending union meetings, voting on proposed contracts, voting on decisions to strike, voting for union stewards and other union leaders, etc.
No. Under the 2017 “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” (TCJA) tax reform bill, union dues and representation fees are not tax deductible even if you itemize deductions. Union dues and representation fees are collected post-tax and are normally automatically deducted from your paycheck if language in a contract calls for this.
If elected, the MNA would likely negotiate to have union dues or representation fees automatically deducted from nurses’ paychecks, just like the MNA negotiated in the current Twin Ports contract.
Under Article 2, “Association Security,” the Twin Ports contract states, “The Employer agrees to deduct payments required by this Article 2, Association Security, from the salary of each nurse who has executed the dues and fees authorization card which has been agreed upon by the Employer and the Minnesota Nurses Association.”
The MNA charges bargaining unit members $76.20 in monthly dues or service fees. This equals $914.40 annually. All nurses who hold an FTE (unlike casual RNs) would be required to pay this amount; there is no discount for part-time status.
Notably, the MNA earns roughly $1,830,000.00 annually from Essentia Health nurses already represented by the MNA. That’s nearly $5.5 million dollars over a single three-year contract. This might explain why the MNA wants to represent more Essentia nurses. More MNA-represented nurses = more money paid by nurses to the MNA.
When and where has the NLRB scheduled future elections at Essentia?
All NLRB elections are supervised by a representative from the NLRB and are conducted by secret ballot.
If the MNA files a petition seeking an election at any Essentia Health ambulatory clinic, the NLRB would decide which nurses are eligible to vote and what manner the election will occur (i.e., in-person voting or mailed-ballot voting). These decisions are solely the discretion of the NLRB, not Essentia Health or the MNA.
No. In any union election anyone who previously signed a union card or petition is free to vote “no” (against the union). NLRB elections are conducted by secret ballot, and no one will know how you vote unless you choose to tell them.
After a petition seeking an election is filed, the NLRB reviews the union’s petition for election and may issue a decision to schedule an election. Elections usually take place a number of weeks after the petition is filed. Essentia Health is committed to ensuring any/all eligible voters are notified far in advance. Our goal is 100% voter participation in any NLRB election.
For any clinic involved in an NLRB election, a union win would mean the MNA would speak on behalf of all nurses in the bargaining unit.
Essentia and the MNA would be required by law to negotiate in good faith with the goal of reaching a contract agreement. But good-faith bargaining doesn’t mean nurses would automatically get more of anything. Through collective bargaining, wages, benefits and other terms and conditions of employment could go up, go down, or stay the same.
If the union is elected, individual department leaders would lose the ability to deal directly with nurses personally as it relates to wages, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment (e.g., vacation schedules, floating or VTO guidelines, flexible work & scheduling options, etc.).
No, this is not correct. Low voter turnout usually favors the union – which is why union supporters may try to discourage you from voting. The outcome of the election will be determined by a simple majority of those who vote (50% + 1 vote).
For example, if there are 50 nurses eligible to vote, but only 30 vote – and 16 of those vote for the union – then the union would win the election and the right to speak for all 50 nurses who were eligible to vote.
In reality, a union vote only determines whether or not the union is certified by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) as the bargaining unit representative for nurses. If you decided later that the MNA is not representing your best interests, the process to legally remove the union is difficult and Essentia would be prohibited from helping.
Voting “no” on a proposed contract only means that the parties will go back to the negotiating table to continue negotiating. If bargaining reaches an impasse, the union can call a strike.
Simply put, if the MNA is elected as your representative the union is likely here to stay – even if you end up disappointed with the outcome of negotiations.
We encourage you to ask the MNA for a copy of the union’s by-laws/constitution. Unions expect their members to comply with the union’s rules, which often include a commitment for members’ loyalty to the union and unequivocal support for union leaders’ decisions. Many unions charge their members monetary fines for violating union rules.
Under rules of the NLRB, wages, benefits and terms and conditions of employment are the only topics that must be bargained over during good-faith bargaining. During that process, things can go up, stay the same, or end up lower than before. “Terms and conditions of employment” refers to things like hours of work and schedules, seniority, procedures for promotions, discharge, layoff, recall, and discipline, among others.
“Good faith bargaining” means the willingness of both parties to meet at agreed upon times and places to discuss subjects representing the required subjects of bargaining with the good-faith intention of reaching a contract agreement.
In good-faith bargaining, the law does not require either side to agree to any proposal submitted by the other. This means if the MNA is elected to represent any Essentia Health ambulatory clinic nurses, Essentia would have a legal right to say “no” to any proposal we felt would negatively impact our business, our colleagues, or our patients.
No. In an NLRB election, there is only one question on the ballot: “Do you wish to be represented for purposes of collective bargaining by Minnesota Nurses Association?” Voters place an “X” in the box marked “no” if they do not want the union or place an “X” in the box marked “yes” if they wish to elect the MNA.
In an NLRB election, you are not voting for any changes to pay, benefits, or other terms and conditions of employment. You are only voting on whether you want the MNA to represent you in collective bargaining.
Electing a union is not like a store purchase you can easily return if you end up being disappointed. If the MNA is elected and certified by the NLRB as the bargaining representative, the union is likely here to stay. The process to legally remove a union is difficult and, under NLRB rules, Essentia leaders can’t help.
If the MNA is elected and MNA and Essentia reach a contract, then all nurses in the bargaining unit would be covered by all the terms of the contract – even if it includes things you don’t like. Through good-faith bargaining, you could get more, keep what you have now, or end up with even less favorable terms than you have now. But no matter the outcome, the MNA will expect you to pay union dues (or service fees) amounting to $914.40 per year as a condition of continued employment.
It is impossible to predict how long the process might take but we can say bargaining for first contracts is typically not fast. A study published in Bloomberg Law in June 2021, analyzed data from union elections held between 2004 and 2021. Researchers found that – on average – it took 465 days to reach a first contract for newly unionized workers.1 These statistics underscore the fact that unionization is not a “quick fix” to the concerns nurses might hope the union will address.
No. Nurses working at any Essentia Health ambulatory clinic would not automatically get anything different or better simply as a result of electing the union. Changes to terms and conditions of employment may only come as a result of the give-and-take process of collective bargaining.
If nurses at any Essentia ambulatory clinic elect the MNA, then Essentia and the MNA would bargain a separate new contract for the new bargaining unit of nurses at that clinic.
No. The MNA’s petition had nothing to do with the Dec. 2024 clinic nurse wage increases. These increases were already planned and in process prior to the MNA petition.
Nurses’ wage increases were based on Essentia’s annual market research and review, a process designed to ensure our nurses’ pay is competitive within the local area market.
We are proud of the research and review we do every year to provide all Essentia colleagues with market-based pay and benefits. And we are proud to extend these wage increases to our ambulatory nurses to bring them in line with the local area market and in gratitude for all you do.
With unionization, the answer to this question depends on the issue. If the issue is related to wages, benefits, or working conditions, these issues can only be addressed through the MNA as your bargaining unit representative. These could include issues like work hours, schedules, vacation schedules, transfers, FTE status changes, etc.
No. In negotiations, we would bargain in good faith, but it would also be our objective to retain Essentia’s rights to continue to manage clinic operations in accordance with our business and patient needs.
You should also know that just because certain terms or language exist in union contracts that cover other Essentia union-represented colleagues (e.g., RNs), this doesn’t mean that such provisions (like limits on floating) would be included in any contract that might be negotiated for any ambulatory clinic nurses. With any union that represents Essentia colleagues, Essentia always negotiates in good faith, but nothing is automatic or guaranteed in collective bargaining. Essentia would not agree to terms that would be detrimental to clinic operations or patient care.
This website is one resource for information. In addition, Essentia leaders are committed to sharing education and information on this important topic to help you make an informed personal decision. If you have questions, please ask your leaders and we will answer your questions as soon as possible.
1 Combs, Robert, “Analysis: How Long Does it Take Unions to Reach First Contracts?”, Bloomberg Law, June 1, 2023, https://www.bloomberglaw.com/bloomberglawnews/bloomberg-law-analysis/X5T55BEG000000?bna_news_filter=bloomberg-law-analysis#jcite, accessed December 2, 2023