Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Photo by Max Nesterak/Minnesota Reformer.
Nurses at Mayo Clinic’s Fairmont Medical Center voted 25 to 15 to dissolve their union with the Minnesota Nurses Association. It’s the latest in a series of decertification elections at Mayo Clinic facilities supported by the anti-union National Right to Work Foundation.
The organization provided legal support to Mayo employee Jamie Campbell in filing a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to hold an election to get rid of the union.
“The MNA was a very divisive force in our workplace, and I think we’ll be able to better serve our patients and the community without the union,” Campbell said in a news release from the National Right to Work Foundation on Wednesday.
Since 2022, the National Right to Work Foundation also supported successful anti-union drives at Mayo facilities in Mankato (nurses and support staff), Austin and St. James.
In a statement, the Minnesota Nurses Association accused Mayo Clinic of working with the National Right to Work Foundation to oust unions across their network of hospitals and clinics.
“Mayo Clinic has shown once more that it prioritizes union-busting over supporting its frontline workers and ensuring safe, quality care for patients,” MNA President Chris Rubesch, a nurse at Essentia Health, said in a statement.
The nurses union has also seen its legislative agenda bigfooted by Mayo Clinic, the largest employer in Minnesota and an influential voice at the state Capitol. In 2023, Mayo Clinic gave Gov. Tim Walz an ultimatum over a bill aimed at increasing nurse staffing levels, threatening to move billions in future investments out of state if it became law.
The bill was gutted and Walz attended the unveiling of the plans for the hospital giant’s $5 billion expansion in the state called “Bold. Forward. Unbound. in Rochester.”
Mayo Clinic did not respond to a request for comment.