About 230 employees at Regina Medical Center in Hastings are spending today making final preparations for a two-day strike they have called for next week.
Nurses aides, X-ray technicians, physical therapy aides, housekeepers, dietary workers, medical transcriptionists, operating room aides, patient care technicians who are part of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Minnesota are set to walk of the job at 6 a.m. Monday unless they can come to agreement on a new contract over the weekend, said Ryan Nagle, a union spokesman.
No new talks are scheduled paving the way for the two-day walkout on Monday and Tuesday. The union is not calling for an open-ended strike because "we want to limit any impact on patients" but still get its message out to the hospital and the community, Nagle said.
The workers have been without a contract since Oct. 31 and have rejected offers that would bring them higher costs for health insurance and a reduce retirement benefits. Pay is not a sticking point in the negotiations, Nagle said.
Union members and hospital officials have met several times in the past three weeks, but last met on Monday.
Nagle said union members will meet at 3:30 p.m. today at the Pleasant Hill Library to make picket signs and support each other.
