Doctors Council - SEIU

For Immediate Release

Contact: Josh Keller, jkeller@seiumn.org

Allina Providers Vote to Authorize ULP Strike If Needed With 90% Support

Overwhelming support from Doctors Council showcases growing frustration with delays in reaching first contract over 20 months after vote to form union

No timeline yet on a potential strike, which would be first ever for unionized providers in Minnesota

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MINNESOTA –  Allina doctors, physicians’ assistants, and nurse practitioners who are members of Doctors Council - SEIU voted with 90% support for a Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike if the two sides cannot reach a deal. The voting took place over the last week of June and followed the group holding the first ever informational picket of unionized providers at the start of the month.  

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Cora Walsh MD, family medicine provider at Allina West St. Paul and member of the Doctors Council bargaining team, spoke about why workers are taking a stand after over 15 months of bargaining and over 20 months since they voted to form their union:

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“We voted so strongly to authorize a strike because we are frustrated that we aren’t seeing movement on issues that matter most to our membership including sick time, vacation time, and time away to deal with the demanding job we do. We still are trying to finish important work on security and safety in our clinics for both providers and patients. I had a baby at the start of bargaining 15 months ago and we’ve been bargaining so long he has learned to walk and is starting to talk. And yet, the employer has refused to provide dates past July. This vote supports us on the bargaining team and is a notice to Allina to bargain, reach an agreement and to stop stalling.”

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This vote gives the bargaining team the power to call for a strike at any point going forward. If a decision was made to call for a ULP strike, the union would have to file an official 10-day notice with Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services (FMCS).

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Victoria Chiou MD, a family medicine and obstetrics provider at Allina Cottage Grove who is a member of Doctors Council Contract Action Team, shared what drove this overwhelming vote:

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“We voted to authorize this strike as we feel Allina’s stalling indicates a lack of respect for the work we do. Our primary focus is taking care of our patients as we walk alongside them in life; our union was formed to ensure we are able to continue to care for patients in a safe and sustainable manner.  Many of us have "pajama time," where we catch up on work left over from the day, but late at night after loved ones are asleep. We were running on fumes prior to the pandemic, and after so many left medicine, now we're running on empty. If we continue to lose primary care providers, or do not help make a primary care career more appealing for new providers, our collective future health is at stake. We formed a union not just to be heard, but to see action, and it is time Allina steps up. This strike vote was for us, but more importantly, it was for our patients and the future of healthcare nationwide.”

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In October of 2023, over 600 Allina doctors, physicians’ assistants, and nurse practitioners who provide primary care in Minnesota voted to form their union with the Doctors Council, becoming the largest private-sector providers union in the country.

Walsh highlighted that the push remains centered on the future of this industry, with the hope to bring stability for patients and doctors:

“We’d like to build a primary care workforce that can provide care for the decades ahead. We have a primary care shortage and we have a way to fix this, but we need to see continued progress at the bargaining table including more dates so we can get back to doing what we do best: caring for our patients. We want to see a continued process to make this a sustainable career for providers.”

They have been bargaining a first contract for 15 months (since February of 2024), spanning 45 bargaining sessions, with a focus on reaching an agreement that ensures their work is valued, they have safe working conditions and their voice is heard, so they can do what they do best: spend time with patients and keep Minnesota families healthy.

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Doctors Council unites doctors, patients, and the communities we serve, advocating for quality, affordable health care for all. We are frontline doctors from New York to Illinois to Minnesota and Wisconsin, working together in hospitals, clinics, and in public health, to achieve the highest standards in quality and working conditions, to win safer staffing levels, and empower doctors to do what we do best—caring for our patients.

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