On Monday, around 15,000 private sector nurses in Minnesota launched a three-day strike, demanding higher pay and staffing following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The strike, believed to be the largest of its kind in US history, will see nurses from seven healthcare systems in Minneapolis and Duluth walk off the job, affecting 16 hospitals..
Since February 2020, the sector has lost about 37,000 workers due to staffing and retention issues during the pandemic, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The union said it has been trying to negotiate a new contract for more than five months and that nurses have been working without a contract for weeks.
Management has said that the demand for a 30% raise is "unrealistic, unreasonable and unaffordable," and have instead offered a 10-12% wage increase.
