Essentia Workers To Strike In Deer River

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DEER RIVER — More than 70 employees at Deer River Essentia Health plan to walk out Monday, Nov. 4, for a five-day Unfair Labor Practice strike.

Members of the Service Employees International Union Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa plan to picket from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day this week through Saturday, union representative Josh Keller said in a statement. The union voted late last month to authorize the strike after negotiations stalled.

A mediation session is set for Nov. 13.

"This facility includes both hospital and nursing home/long term care workers," the union said in an Oct. 29 news release. "The two sides have been bargaining since August, yet remain distant on big issues like wages, the demand for additional PTO or shift bonuses, and ensuring that hospital workers get the same holiday pay that nursing home workers will now get as part of recent changes made by the Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board."

Essentia released a statement when the strike was authorized, saying the union's request for "a 55% increase over three years is not financially sustainable in today’s health care environment. Financial constraints are especially pronounced in rural communities, where there is a greater percentage of patients with government insurance such as Medicare and Medicaid."

Nearly three-fourths of Essentia's payments in Deer River come from government programs, the statement said.

Sarah Roberts, a certified surgical tech and a member of the union bargaining team, said the hospital is understaffed and overworked due to low pay. "This means people are getting burnt out, which hurts our patients. Because it’s a small facility, we have to cover so many different jobs to get the work done, but we can’t keep doing more with less. We’re striking because our community needs better," she said in the union's statement.

Emergency services, surgical care, outpatient clinic care and long-term care should remain available during the strike, Essentia said, but warned that some services could be temporarily suspended and some patients could be transferred to other facilities.

Essentia Health consists of 14 hospitals, 78 clinics, 24 retail pharmacies, six long-term care facilities, three assisted living facilities, three independent living facilities, seven ambulance services and one research institute throughout Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin.