Day 1 ends for 15,000 nurses on strike: "We're in a crisis where we need staff"

Day 2 of the Minnesota nurses strike is underway Tuesday morning. Follow live updates right here. 

The Minnesota Nurses Association ended the first day of its three-day strike and members will return to the picket line Tuesday at 7 a.m.

As the sun set Monday, nurses at Abbott Northwestern danced as a local musicians in the group Brass Solidarity played renditions of "Lean on Me" and "We're Not Going to Take It." Drivers honked and cheered as they drove by.

"It's just been great energy from the nurses building each other up," said Kelley Anaas, a registered nurse Abbott Northwestern. "We've had community support and lots of other union members showing up to support us because our jobs might all be different but ultimately what we want is the same: we don't want corporations taking over what heath care looks like in Minnesota."

Two sticking points for nurses are higher wages and more input on staffing levels. This, they say, will prevent burnout and ensure patients aren't shortchanged in their care. 

"We're serious about what we need to keep doing our jobs and what it's going to take to keep nurses inside of hospitals instead of looking for work elsewhere," Anaas said. 

A Minnesota Department of Health survey found 19% of nurses last year said they plan to leave the profession in five years, which is an increase from pre-pandemic. There are more jobs unfilled than there were in 2019, too.

"We're in a crisis where we need staff," said Tracey Dittrich, a nurse at Children's Minnesota in Minneapolis who's worked there for more than two decades. "There are nurses in Minnesota—they just don't want to work in these conditions."

Fifteen hospitals are impacted with 15,000 nurses participating in the strike. Children's Minnesota, Fairview, Methodist Hospital, and North Memorial Health in a joint statement said pay increases of up to 30% aren't attainable.  

"Increases like this would cost hundreds of millions of dollars across Twin Cities Hospitals and are not economically feasible or responsible to our community members who would ultimately pay the price," the hospitals said.

Anaas said the nurses union started high with its proposal on wage increase and hopes to meet somewhere in the middle. 

Allina Health said it's rescheduled a limited number of non-emergent appointments to ensure patient safety. 

"As we have said all along, strikes do not benefit anyone and the only path to reaching agreement is through negotiations," the health care system said in a statement. "At the conclusion of MNA's strike, we are hopeful that they will be ready to engage in serious negotiations with the assistance of a federal mediator to help the parties remain at the table until a deal is reached."

There are three hospitals in the area that are not impacted by the nurses strike. Now those hospitals are doing to make sure the needs of patients and families are met.

Regions Hospital in St. Paul and Maple Grove Hospital are non-union hospitals. Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis is unionized, but is considered a "safety net" hospital, so nurses there are prohibited from striking.

In a statement, Hennepin Healthcare says it is "monitoring volumes and working actively to move people to the right level of care."

Maple Grove Hospital too has a plan in place and extra staff to ensure high-level care is given to all who pass through its doors.

Non-union hospitals say they are prepared to handle additional patients and their families for the days MNA will be out on strike.

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The two sides in the nursing strike are said to remain very far apart, and there are no new talks scheduled.

Nurses have walked out of 15 hospitals, including three in Duluth and 12 in the Twin Cities metro area.

Inside the hospitals, temporary replacement nurses are caring for patients.

The striking nurses are asking for up to a 30% pay hike spread over three years. The hospitals are countering with 12% over three years.

But nurses insist this is not about money. From the leadership on down nurses say staffing is no longer safe for either nurses or patients. 

"We want assurances in our contract that if a nurse says their assignment is unsafe that we are not disciplined. We have had nurses that have been sent home for refusing an unsafe assignment," nurse union president Mary Turner said.

The hospitals say the nurses' demands are unrealistic and they point to some hospital losses in revenue recently. M Health Fairview, for example, says it lost $163 million in the first half of the year.

This three-day strike will be over Thursday and the goal is to get the sides back to the table. Nurses wont say what happens next if no deal is reached. 

The Minnesota nurses strike that began Monday morning originally included 16 hospitals. WCCO's Esme Murphy reports that one hospital is no longer involved. 

Essentia hospital in Moose Lake is not included in the strike. 

Approximately 15,000 nurses from the Twin Cities, Moose Lake and Duluth went on strike only hours earlier.

The Minnesota Nurses Association and hospitals are at odds over a number of issues, from wages, to staffing and safety. Hospitals insist that the nurses' demands are not realistic and that hospitals are facing increased financial pressure from treating people who are not insured or underinsured.

The Minnesota Nurses Association held a press conference at noon Monday where nurses said they are striking to "save our profession." 

"Fifty-one percent of us could potentially leave the bedside as of next year," Mary Turner, president of MNA, said. "That's a health crisis .... If we really were only in this for money, we'd all be traveling (nurses) right now."

Approximately 15,000 nurses from the Twin Cities, Moose Lake and Duluth went on strike only hours earlier. 

Watch a segment of the press conference below:

At 7 a.m. Monday, 15,000 nurses from the Twin Cities and Duluth began a three-day strike. 

WCCO's Pauleen Le has the 10:30 a.m. update from Children's Minnesota in downtown St. Paul. 

Minnesota nurses – approximately 15,000 of them – are now on strike after walking off the job Monday morning.

The three-day strike is happening at hospitals around the Twin Cities, and also in the Duluth area.In the hours following the beginning of the strike, WCCO's Pauleen Le spoke with health care workers on the picket line at United Hospital in St. Paul.

"We feel very excited because we're all standing together really strong to fight for what's right for patients," emergency room nurse Brittany Livaccari said. "But we're also pretty disappointed that our employer wasn't willing to settle this before we had to come to this point."

The Minnesota Nurses Association and hospitals are at odds over a number of issues, from wages, to staffing and safety. Hospitals insist that the nurses' demands are not realistic and that hospitals are facing increased financial pressure from treating people who are not insured or underinsured.

Paul Omodt, spokesperson for the Twin Cities Hospital Group, says all the hospitals will remain open and that replacement nurses are being brought on.

Twin Cities Hospital Group says nurses aren't willing to use a mediator during negotiations.

"We want them to listen to us. We don't want an in-between person," Livaccari said. "We want them to hear our voices."

Allina Health said patients will be contacted directly if their appointments change during the strike. Many of the nurses say they will be at the picket line all three days. Some reported at 5 a.m. in the morning and clocked out at 7 a.m. to join the picket line.

WCCO will have more updates throughout the day.

Around 15,000 Minnesota nurses officially began their strike against 16 major hospitals in the Twin Cities, Moose Lake and Duluth. 

WCCO's Pauleen Le captured a view of the picket line from the entrance at United Hospital in St. Paul. 

Around 15,000 Minnesota nurses officially began their strike against 16 major hospitals in the Twin Cities, Moose Lake and Duluth. It's believed to be the largest private sector nurses strike in U.S. history.  

RELATED: "Disappointed" health care workers and hospitals prepare for nurses' strike Monday

The Minnesota Nurses Association and hospitals are at odds over a number of issues, from wages, to staffing and safety. 

Paul Omodt, a spokesperson for Twin Cities Hospital group, which includes Children's Minnesota, North Memorial Health, Fairview Health, and Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital, said thousands of nurses from around the country will work during the strike to keep the hospitals open and running as close to normal as possible. 

Watch a previous report below:

WCCO's Pauleen Le is at United Hospital in St. Paul, where more and more nurses are beginning to gather with picket signs in the minutes before the strike is set to begin. 

A couple hours before the strike, six coach buses full of traveling nurses were seen heading into Allina Health's United Hospital in St. Paul.

In Sunday's Talking Points, Esme Murphy showed us how the pandemic is affecting labor tension as the strike is set to begin.

ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. -- On Monday, approximately 15,000 nurses plan to strike in Minnesota, in what could be the largest nurses strike in U.S. history. Contract negotiations fell short this weekend prompting the three-day strike. 

"I'm feeling disappointed," Methodist Hospital nurse Victoria Zeehandelaar said.

Victoria Zeehandelaar is planning to picket outside her workplace on Monday with her colleagues. Sixteen hospitals across seven healthcare systems will be impacted by the strike.

Paul Omodt, a spokesperson for Twin Cities Hospital group, which includes Children's Minnesota, North Memorial Health, Fairview Health, and Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital, said thousands of nurses from around the country will work during the strike to keep the hospitals open and running as close to normal as possible. 

"We are starting with new people who have and will be getting trained in, we should expect some delays at our hospitals, we should expect some hiccups because it's just the nature of the business on any day," Omodt said.

Allina Health said patients will be contacted directly if their appointments change during the strike.  

"While we are making every effort to minimize disruptions to patient care, our hospitals continue to be full, and we are preparing to make the necessary adjustments to ensure we are meeting the community's emergent and on-going health care needs," a spokesperson said.

The Minnesota Nurses Association and hospitals are at odds over a number of issues, from wages, to staffing and safety. 

"What they are asking for, the wage increases are not something the hospitals can afford," Omodt said.

Zeehandelaar said the economics is not the main issue at hand. 

"We are not striking because of our wages we are striking because we want to make sure our patients have the best quality care they can and the foundation of that is proper staffing levels," she said.

Nurses from various healthcare systems will begin the strike at 7 a.m. Monday morning. They will picket outside the hospitals until evening throughout the duration of the strike. 

Minnesota Nurses Association President Mary Turner spoke to WCCO Sunday morning.