Here is an update from Cliff Willmeng, the Minneapolis ER nurse that was fired back in January for demanding hospital issued PPE's. He just had his arbitration and is awaiting the result. After the battle at United for workplace safety, Cliff was elected to the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA ) Board of Directors on a platform of union democracy, working class action-racism, political independence, and frontliner decision making.
During the early months of the COVID 19 pandemic, nurses and other frontline workers fought for patient and workplace safety at Allina Health’s United Hospital in St. Paul, MN. United responded by firing RN and union steward Cliff Willmeng. Help bring Cliff back to his job at United and defend frontline workers everywhere!
The facts:
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On May 8, 2020, RN Cliff Willmeng was fired without a single patient care or attendance issue.
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Prior to his termination, Willmeng was part of a growing number of nurses fighting to protect their patients, their coworkers, and their families from the increasingly dangerous working conditions and medical protocol driven by the COVID 19 pandemic.
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United frontline medical staff communicated their concerns to senior hospital administrators, filed OSHA workplace safety complaints, initiated their own safety protocols, and drove local and national media attention.
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After nurses’ attempts to compel Allina Health to address workplace and patient safety, Allina Health fired Cliff Willmeng for violating hospital uniform policy.
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Following his termination, it appears that Allina also reported Willmeng to the Minnesota Board of Nursing, threatening his nursing license and his livelihood.
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Cliff is a husband and father of two, a registered nurse for 13 years, and a union steward in the Minnesota Nurses Association. Allina used his termination to intimidate all frontline workers taking a stand for coworkers and the safety of the public they serve.
We call on the Allina Health’s CEO Penny Wheeler, its Board of Directors, and United Hospital management to immediately reinstate Cliff Willmeng to his position in the emergency room of United Hospital. We further call for an end to the intimidation of and retaliation against frontline workers risking their health and their lives during a deadly pandemic.
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