MINNEAPOLIS — The doctors’ union at the giant Minneapolis-based Allina hospital chain has called for a one-day strike in 2-1/2 weeks. In a news call with reporters, an organizer, pediatrician Nick VenOsde, said the Allina Doctors Council has reached a breaking point in negotiations over salaries, benefits and safe staffing level. The strike, scheduled for November 5, would be the first by physicians in Minnesota history. VenOsde said Allina has cut salaries around 5% for physicians, although he admits a precise number is hard to pin down due to uneven terms in physician agreements.
Allina profile
Allina Healh, a nonprofit company, operates 12 hospitals and 90 clinics throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin. The flagship is 700-bed Abbott Northwestern in Minneapolis. In southern Minnesota the company has hospitals in Faribault, New Ulm, Owatonna. Employees: 29,000. Operating revenue: $5.8 billion.
Union profile
Allina Doctors Council was formed in 2023 to address the broad trend of U.S. healthcare consolidation into sprawling health systems that, the union says, has led to worsening labor condition for physicians and other top-level practitioners. The union claims 600 physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners as members who object to “factory style” modern medicine.
Verbatim
Allina: “The union’s request for significant compensation increases and extreme benefits proposals are simply not realistic or sustainable,” The company cited rising costs and Trump cuts to Medicaid. About the physicians union’s one-day strike, Allina said: “The bargaining table is where a responsible path forward for all parties can be found.”