Nursing Assistants Demand a 5% Wage Increase

[Omaha Steve]

BY FILIBERTO NOLASCO GOMEZ

Henrietta Ofori has been a long time nursing assistant at Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park. Her job is difficult, and she says that “We work so hard. When you go home, you’re so tired, you’re exhausted. You have to work overtime to make ends meet.”

Nursing assistant members of SEIU have delivered petitions for a 5% wage increase to the leadership of eight Twin Cities Hospitals. They have asked for a wage increase on the basis of the long hours they work and the low pay in comparison to other area hospitals.

Last Thursday a contingent of nursing assistants presented 13 and a half cardboard cutouts describing their working conditions and challenges to the Park Nicollet Methodist HR office. The office was closed but according to 23-year nursing assistant veteran Cindy Davis, “we proceeded onto the scheduling manager upstairs and we were able to have a conversation with that manager about the importance of having a 5% raise and working all the overtime and how it’s affected us.”

The Union argues that the current wage scales are insufficient in the job market, resulting in burnout and high aid-to-patient ratios that endanger the health and safety of patients and staff.

FULL story: https://www.workdayminnesota.org/nursing-assistants-demand-a-5-wage-increase/

[LakeArenal]

1. Would rec a million times to get them more.

They deserve so much.