Today, September 5, 2016, thousands of nurses in the Minneapolis-based Allina Health hospitals went on strike over a healthcare dispute. The dispute began back in June when the company decided they would be moving nurses off of their union-only health care and onto the system used by all other Allina employees. This new system would mean nurses would pay lower premiums but also higher deductibles and deal with more out of pocket expenses. This program is estimated to save the company $10 million in one year. They have since altered their plan, however this too would not work as it would remain an incredible expense for the nurses. Officials are unsure as to how long this strike will last and have already worked on hiring temporary replacement nurses, but are attempting to urge nurses to drop their picket signs and go to work, as a lack of staff would affect the lives of patients as well as cost the company lots of money to hire replacements.
The source seems fairly unbiased, as it points out flaws from both sides. In my opinion, the company should keep the system they had for the nurses and not force the nurses to pay more deductibles and out of pocket, as they work in a higher-risk environment for both injury and disease, making them more susceptible to instances in which they would be required to pay out of pocket. The nurses work hard every day to better the lives of their patients, and when they themselves become the patients, it should be their employers job, not their own, to help pay to get them back to a healthy state. This protest represents our freedom of speech, a freedom we as americans are so lucky to enjoy. This freedom was established in the first amendment of our constitution, one of ten making up the bill of rights. This right has been exercised time and time again, the most prominent examples to me being the protests for women's suffrage and the civil rights movement. Having the power to make change without political power is so important, and I am thankful to live in a country where I have that power (to some extent).
I completely agree. I feel like health isn't as much as a priority as it should. For example they rose the price of Epi-pens and inhalers for profit knowing that it could cause some people to not afford it. I feel like the country should try to make health care cheaper not more expensive to get a profit.
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