DEER RIVER — Deer River union members and Essentia Health reached a contract agreement after 49 days on strike, the longest by Service Employees International Union Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa members in over 40 years.
According to the union, the two sides agreed to a 12% across-the-board wage increase over three years that applies to all members, plus additional market adjustments for pharmacy techs and cooks. Wages will increase 3.5% in year one, 3.75% in year two and 4.75% in year three.
SEIU said 92% of members approved the contract Sunday, Jan. 26. The new contract was tentatively agreed upon earlier in the weekend after two days of bargaining.
The union represents 70 workers at the Deer River hospital and nursing home, including surgical techs, activity aides and nutrition services assistants.
The two sides had been negotiating since August. Workers contended their wages were far below the market, proposing an 18% wage increase. Essentia said the requested raises were unrealistic and proposed a 9% increase, though the union said it would not have been evenly distributed.
The contract also includes increased call pay and shift differentials, a $100 uniform allowance, increased bonuses when workers have less than 10 hours between shifts, additional pay for supervising students and certification pay for maintenance workers.
There is also new language preventing wage “leap-frogging,” as the union calls it. If a new employee will make more than a current worker with similar experience, the current worker will have their wage adjusted.
Essentia highlighted the inclusion of cross-facility floating in the agreement. The voluntary staffing practice lets workers pick up shifts at facilities with greater patient demand, which Essentia said gives it flexibility to schedule employees “where and when patients need them most.”
The union had opposed the provision, arguing it meant an employee from another facility who gets paid more than local union members could come into Deer River and do the same work. SEIU said it agreed to a modified version of Essentia’s proposal that gives its members a new premium pay incentive for working under the program.
The two sides agreed to “meet and confer” when the state’s nursing home minimum wage standards go into effect next year, rather than having to wait until contract negotiations begin anew. The union, at one time, proposed a one-year contract in order to renegotiate when the standards began and argued an employee working for both the hospital and nursing home may be excluded from the new minimum wage.
In a news release, Essentia said the contract is consistent with 20 others negotiated last year.
“We are pleased to reach an agreement that keeps health care sustainable for our patients across the region while continuing to provide excellent pay and benefits for our colleagues in Deer River,” the release stated.
“These negotiations highlighted the shared challenges we are confronting in rural health care, and opportunities to address them together. At Essentia, we have a responsibility to negotiate contracts that are fair and equitable while also ensuring access to expert care in the communities we serve. We are grateful for the many contributions of these team members, who help us fulfill our mission of making a healthy difference in people’s lives every day.”
Union member and radiologic technologist Becky Shereck said she’s proud the workers stood up for what is right and won a strong contract.
“I’m so proud of our membership for sticking together. Despite the many cold days on the strike line, we became a family,” Shereck said in the union’s news release.
“We are proud of the progress we made and that Essentia came to the table to provide a better offer. We are a strong union here in Deer River and we are dedicated to health care workers. We love our job and we are ready to go back to work to care for our community. Thank you to everyone who supported us in our fight for a fair contract.”
Negotiations over the terms of the return-to-work agreement were still underway as of Sunday evening, though SEIU said members will begin to come back this week.
