PARK RAPIDS – Late Saturday evening, August 10, a tentative agreement was reached between the SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa negotiating team and the management of CHI St. Joseph’s Health in Park Rapids.

According to a press release from SEI Healthcare MN & IA, the agreement came just hours before a planned two-day strike by nearly 50 hospital employees against unfair labor practices that was scheduled to begin Tuesday morning.

The two sides reached the agreement at 11 p.m. during their tenth round of negotiations, which brought workers “great progress” in meeting their core demands, the press release said.

The full agreement will be presented to members, who will vote on the agreement next week, the press release said. Highlights include:

• Market-based wage increases in all areas: Most employees receive more than 10% more pay, some even up to 19% more than their current salary, and in the second and third years there is another 4.5% increase.
• A wage increase of $2 per hour for shift premiums and weekend premiums.
• A ratification bonus of $250 and a retroactive refund as of July 1.
• Restart the Working and Administrative Committee to solve current problems in the future.

Vanessa Habedank, who has worked as a surgical assistant at the hospital for 25 years and is a member of the negotiating team, expressed her enthusiasm about the preliminary agreement.

“We were frustrated because until recently we felt like the employer was just throwing us small change,” said Habedank. “We voted to strike at the end of last month because there were health care workers who, despite the pay increases offered, were not getting the pay increases they were entitled to.”

“Our group was united and ready to strike. And by sticking together, we were able to put pressure on them to get raises across the board, so our group is now at or close to market value across the board. This fight helped build strength and trust in this group and showed that we have the power to get what we want and what we deserve for ourselves and our patients.”

The contract for employees in the areas of environmental services, nursing staff, home nursing, laundry sterilization technology, surgical technology, secretary, reception, surgical planning, cooking and pharmacy technology expired on June 30, the press release said.

According to the press release, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa unites nearly 50,000 healthcare workers in the two states.

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