ROCHESTER - Two months after voting for the right to strike, union workers at Mayo Clinic Methodist campus in Rochester approved a new three-year contract.
The vote was unanimous among the 600 SEIU health care workers.
Mayo Clinic officials said in a statement late Friday that they were pleased to have concluded negotiations with members, which include sterile-processing technicians, patient escorts, surgical techs and maintenance workers, among others.
“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,” officials said.
SEIU organizers say wage gains are closely tied to what the union earned after an arbitrator ruled earlier this year in favor of several key union requests in negotiations at nearby Saint Marys Hospital, though Mayo Clinic officials said the contract wins largely mirrored Mayo wage proposals.
That contract set minimum pay for workers at least $20 across the board, with increases over the next three years that bring people to almost $22 per hour at minimum.
The new Methodist contract has the opportunity to increase in its third year if Saint Marys earns bigger wage increases during the next round of negotiations, SEIU organizer Hallie Wallace said. In addition, if bargaining breaks down in 2027 and Saint Marys workers decide to strike, new language would prohibit Methodist workers from crossing the picket line and filling in staffing gaps.
“That’s some really important language for us to make sure we’re able to maintain our strength and show as much power as possible,” Wallace said.
