A strike was avoided and negotiations continued this week between the United Steelworkers of America Local 9460 and St. Mary's/Duluth Clinic Health System.
A Tuesday night to Wednesday morning session headed off a regional strike that had been set for Wednesday at SMDC locations throughout the Northland.
With six separate labor contracts unresolved, SMDC officials and the Local 9460 were not optimistic heading into negotiations this week. However, they made enough progress in the long session that both sides felt they could return to the table. According to the union, it will continue to negotiate until they reach an agreement.
The strike would have directly involved 1,233 workers at SMDC operations in Duluth, Hibbing, Chisholm, Babbitt and Ely, along with Ashland, Hayward, Spooner and Superior, Wis. The USWA, represents about 19 percent of SMDC's 6,600 employees. Overall, Local 9460 has more than 2,600 health care industry members in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin.
According to SMDC, at 3 a.m. Wednesday, after working through the night, the union withdrew its "intent to strike to notices" for all six contracts. That afternoon, talks reopened and focused on the main clinic in Duluth. Negotiations on the regional clinics were to resume Friday morning according to USWA spokeswoman Ucinda Sims.
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The contracts in question represent medical support workers with 110 different job titles. The jobs include lab technicians, clinical assistants, janitors and transcriptionists. The union has wanted to negotiate them collectively, while SMDC has insisted on separate session for each.
An SMDC spokesman said they made significant progress, and both sides agreed to continue to bargain in good faith.
"We made good progress, and we are convinced that we can resolve this negotiation without a work stoppage," said USWA international representative Eldon Kirsch.
"What we agreed to tonight is in the best interest of our patients and employees," said SMDC senior labor negotiator Rich Rand, early Wednesday morning. "We will continue to work in good faith to renew our agreement with the USWA."
The contracts in question expired July 1. The sides have been negotiating since April 29 with a federal mediator. During the long process, each has accused the other of unfair labor practices.
According to SMDC, the outstanding issues are higher wages, lower employee health insurance premiums, increased employer pension contributions and contract length.
Kirsch recently attributed much of the impasse to SMDC's insistence on treating the outlying clinics differently than the main facility in Duluth. "Our position is that people in Duluth, Hibbing and Ely are paid the same wage for the same jobs," he said.
On Tuesday, the local announced it would negotiate around the clock if necessary to avoid a walk-out after membership soundly rejected SMDC's last proposal last weekend.
