Minnesota — Update: Walker Methodist Workers Win!

UNITED IN VICTORY | After years of hard work to form a union with Council 5, Walker Methodist Health Center staff will now have a voice at the table.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Lovaasen/Council 5

Nearly four years after voting to join Council 5, LPNs and other employees at Walker Methodist Health Center in Minneapolis have their AFSCME union.

Walker’s LPNs, nursing assistants, housekeepers, maintenance, laundry and dietary workers cast their votes in two separate elections in 2003, but the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) sealed the ballots after management of Minnesota’s largest nursing home appealed. In late April and early May, the NLRB finally certified both votes, opening the door to a first contract for all 550 workers represented by Council 5.

LPN Tracy Plante, whose story was featured in the last edition ofAFSCME WORKS, says Walker’s employees finally can celebrate “because we know that our votes count, and we will have a powerful voice to improve patient care.”