Members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa at the Mayo Clinic Hospital Methodist Campus in Rochester, Minn., have approved a new three-year labor contract, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.
The agreement, approved June 6, covers 700 members at Methodist, Hallie Wallace, the union representative and lead negotiator on the contract, told Becker’s. This includes patient care assistants, sterile processing technicians, linen transporters, environmental services technicians, surgical technologists, maintenance workers, and patient escorts.
According to SEIU, the deal includes:
- Wage increases between 4.5% and 17.5% for 2025 with retroactive pay back to Feb. 1, 2025
- For a majority of members, a wage increase of 6.5% this year, 4% in 2026 and 3% in 2027
- Increases to uniform and shoe allowances
- Higher shift differentials for surgical technologists
- Caps on the number of hours that members can be mandated to work overtime
- Streamlined grievance procedure language
SEIU members approved the deal two months after voting to cancel a voluntary supplemental “no strike” agreement in future labor contract negotiations.
Ms. Wallace said June 10 that the bargaining unit at Methodist “will not be signing a supplemental agreement that bans striking for a full year after the expiration of the contract, meaning that Mayo Methodist members will be able to strike at the end of this new contract for the first time in 70 years.”
SEIU members at Mayo Clinic Hospital St. Marys Campus, who will be negotiating their next contract in 2027, voted in 2024 for the right to strike in future contract negotiations.
Ms. Wallace said the union secured language at Methodist that says SEIU members at Methodist will not be required to float to St. Marys if they are on strike to cross their picket line.
“This is really important language for us, as it preserves our power and solidarity,” she added.
Additionally, Ms. Wallace said if union members at St. Marys receive pay increases of more than 3% in 2027, union members at Methodist will have that higher percentage increase matched to the other hospital.
In a statement shared with Becker’s, Mayo Clinic officials praised the agreement at Methodist.
“Mayo Clinic is pleased to have reached a contract agreement with the allied health groups represented by the Service Employees International Union on the Methodist Campus,” officials said. “The agreement aligns with key elements of the SEIU contract at Saint Marys and how Mayo Clinic adjusted nonunion wages over the last few years.”
