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Allina Nurses Voting On New Contract

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The nurses at five large Twin Cities hospitals will vote today to decide whether to accept a new contract.

Approximately 5,000 nurses have been working at Allina hospitals without a contract since February.

The nurses work at Abbott Northwestern, Phillips Eye Institute, Mercy, Unity and United hospitals.

The nurses' union says the new proposal shifts too much of the healthcare costs onto the nurses and the nurses are expected to reject the offer.

If the contract is rejected, the nurses could vote to strike.

Allina issued a statement on Monday, saying: "At Allina Health we greatly value the work done every day by the nearly 5,000 nurses at our metro-area hospitals, just as we value the work of all members of our teams who provide compassionate care to the communities we serve. In these negotiations we are simply asking our nurses to choose from the same health insurance plans we offer all other employees. These are solid plans that provide very good coverage to more than 30,000 Allina Health employees and their family members. Making this change supports our values of treating all our employees equitably and being good stewards of our financial resources. We hope that today our nurses will vote in favor of this proposal, so we can all continue to focus on what matters most: caring for our patients."

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