Allina doctors union announces plan for first-ever picket
500+ Allina doctors, providers set to unionize
Hundreds of doctors and other top medical providers with Allina Health are getting ready to vote on whether to unionize. If the vote goes through, the group would be the largest private-sector health union in the country’s history. It includes more than 500 doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants across 56 primary care and urgent care clinics. The clinics are all in Minnesota, except for one in River Falls, Wisconsin.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A recently-formed union for doctors at Allina Health has announced its first-ever picket next week.
Doctors announce picket
What we know:
The informational pickets will be held on Tuesday, June 3 at 6 a.m. at different Allina clinics in Coon Rapids, Maplewood, Bloomington, and West St. Paul.
The doctors are inviting members of the public to join the picket.
The backstory:
Allina doctors and healthcare professionals voted to form a union back in Oct. 2023, creating the Doctors Council SEIU Local 10MD. The union covers clinics in Minnesota and one in River Falls, Wis. and includes more than 600 members.
When forming the union, doctors said they were driven by concerns over staffing shortages. Since then, doctors say they;ve taken part in 40 bargaining sessions with the health care company.
Allina doctors raise concerns
Dig deeper:
In a Wednesday morning news conference, doctors outlined a number of issues that are slowing negotiations, including:
- Autonomy in decision making
- Better support staffing
- Dedicated training and meeting times
- Better security at clinics
- Proposal from Allina to cut pay and eliminate sick time
For the proposed pay cut, the doctors say they are paid using a formula that pulls national and regional data and pays health care providers at the 50th percentile based on that data. They say Allina wants to drop it to the 25th percentile.
"The contract Allina is offering us will unquestionably worsen primary care," said Matt Hoffman, an Allina doctor. "We are picketing because we need Allina to come to the table and work together with us to strengthen primary care for the sake of our patients. We are ready to publicly show our patients and the community on the picket line that we are fighting to make primary care sustainable."
Allina Health responds to picket plans
What they're saying:
In a statement on the picket to FOX 9, Allina Health said:
"Allina Health deeply values the dedication of our care team members who provide exceptional care to our patients and the communities we serve. There will be no disruption in care during these informational pickets.
"We continue to negotiate in good faith with Doctors Council SEIU and seek to reach responsible agreements that maintain competitive pay and benefits for our providers while ensuring that we can sustain our caring mission long-term. At a time when we are facing significant uncertainty from rising costs, declining reimbursements and potentially devastating cuts to critical programs like Medicaid, we remain focused on reaching agreements that ensure we can maintain access to the high-quality care people depend on. "