Nurses flex muscle at state Capitol [View All]

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Workday Minnesota

By Barb Kucera, Workday editor

ST. PAUL - Fresh from their one-day strike last summer that made U.S. history – and mindful of the protests taking place in Wisconsin – Minnesota nurses descended on the state Capitol Tuesday to continue to press for safe patient care.

Members of the Minnesota Nurses Association rallied in the rotunda, then went out in teams to meet with members of the Republican-controlled Legislature.

“Now more than ever, it is so important to have your voices heard,” Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson told the hundreds gathered in the rotunda. “You are not just speaking for yourselves. You are speaking for the people who are not able to be here today . . . other nurses, patients and the middle class.”

Governor Mark Dayton, guest speaker at the rally, said his first act in taking office was to opt into Federal Medical Assistance funds that former Governor Tim Pawlenty had refused to accept. As a result, Tuesday marked the first day Minnesota began to receive $1.2 billion in federal money for hospitals and clinics that will provide health care for 95,000 Minnesotans unable to obtain coverage on their own.


Read more: http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_4790

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FULL story at link.


Nurses crowded the state Capitol rotunda for the MNA's annual Day on the Hill.