It’s official – Registered Nurses at CHI St. Francis Health in Breckenridge, Minnesota are now Union members. The vote took place on Monday, January 6, to join the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees – or AFSCME Council 65. Coly Intemenn lead organizer with Council 65…
Over the course of a couple weeks, the nurses had conversations with each other about, you know, what they were seeing going on at the hospital, the changes they've seen in the last few years, and realizing that, yeah, union would be a good idea to have more of a voice at work.
Intemenn says around 20-nurses would be covered through a contract between the nurses and hospital management. She says while the contract has yet to be negotiated, the nurses already have some basic Union protections…
Upon organizing, workers have what's called Weingarten rights. So if they get called into a meeting, they're worried about it being disciplinary, they have a right to a union representative.
Contract talks between the Union and Management are expected to begin in about 6 to 8 weeks, depending on scheduling.