Another one bites the dust as Mayo Clinic Fairmont nurses vote out union

Another group of Mayo Clinic Health System nurses has voted to terminate a decades-old association with their union. Registered nurses at Mayo Clinic Health in Fairmont voted this week to send the Minnesota Nurses Association packing, ending 72 years of union representation with a 25-16 final tally.

The decertification drive was led by Jamie Campbell, a Mayo Clinic Fairmont RN who filed the petition for an election with the National Labor Relations Board last month.

“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,” commented Campbell on the vote. “We hope the NLRB quickly certifies the vote and that union officials respect our decision.”

The Fairmont nurses join three other Mayo Clinic employee groups who’ve soured on union representation in the last three years in Austin, St. James and Mankato. All four of those drives challenging union involvement were assisted by the National Right to Work Foundation. The non-profit legal organization chided the MNA on its latest loss of dues-paying members.

“MNA union bosses’ influence and political connections did not shield them from suffering another defeat by rank-and-file nurses at the ballot box,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix.

“Ironically, Minnesota’s lack of Right to Work protections – which are vociferously opposed by the MNA – likely removed an important accountability tool from the relationship between the MNA and the nurses they claim to ‘represent.’ It’s no surprise that union bosses who can force workers to pay union dues or fees on pain of termination wind up being far less effective and more out-of-touch than union officials who must earn the voluntary financial support of each worker.”

It’s not exactly the way the Minnesota Nurses Association wanted to start the new year. The union released a statement accusing Mayo Clinic of working with the National Right to Work Foundation against the union.

“We’ve seen these tactics time and again across Mayo facilities in Minnesota and nationwide,” MNA President Chris Rubesch said in a statement. “Mayo Clinic has shown once more that it prioritizes union-busting over supporting its frontline workers and ensuring safe, quality care for patients. This outcome is a blow not just to the nurses in Fairmont, but to every health care worker fighting for their voice at the table.”

The National Right to Work Foundation also assisted health care employees at four locations of the Cuyuna Regional Medical Center in the Brainerd lakes area to reject union representation in 2023.