St. Paul, Minnesota - Around 15,000 members of the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) union voted on Wednesday to authorize a strike amid their ongoing fight for a fair contract.

The nurses, who work in health care centers in the Twin Cities, Twin Ports, and Two Harbors, are ready to show their collective power after overwhelmingly voting in favor of a walkout.

The decision comes after eight months of unsatisfactory negotiations with hospital executives in the Twin Cities and Twin Ports. Nurses there have been without a contract since the summer.

Nurses in Two Harbors joined in the strike authorization vote as they also push for a contract with fair wages, benefits, and working conditions.

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At a press conference on Thursday, it was announced that the strike at St. Luke's hospital in Duluth and Two Harbors will be open-ended, while those at other bargaining units have a December 31 deadline.

Workers have said that policies imposed by hospital execs are designed to maximize profits at the expense of care and have led to nurses quitting their jobs in record numbers. Lower staffing levels make it difficult for nurses to give patients the quality of treatment they deserve.

"Our hospitals are in crisis, and our CEOs have failed nurses and patients. They have failed to solve the crisis of patient care, and they have failed to solve the crisis of working conditions pushing nurses away from the bedside," MNA President Mary C. Turner said in a press release.

"Nurses are fighting to win contracts that will help nurses stay on the job to provide patients with the exceptional care they deserve. Hospital CEOs with million-dollar salaries can afford to put Patients Before Profits in our hospitals and to do right by Minnesota nurses."

As the negotiations for a fair contract have worn on, nurses have accused hospital execs of engaging in unfair labor practices, including acting to keep wages low for nurses, dealing directly with MNA members rather than collective bargaining, and withholding necessary information for the bargaining process.

All the while, those same executives are taking home more and more money.

"At the same time hospital CEOs tell us there is no money to retain staff and prioritize care, executives are taking million-dollar raises and pursuing corporate expansions that put community access to affordable care at risk," said Chris Rubesch, first vice president of the MNA.

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"Nurses and patients need safe staffing and quality care in our hospitals, not more corporate healthcare policies. We are ready to fight and win fair contracts to hold hospital CEOs accountable to our communities."

The MNA charted hospital CEOs' salaries compared to an RN's average rate of pay at that same institution, and the ratios range from 10:1 to an astonishing 40:1 difference. That's why nurses are convinced the resources are there to solve the crisis in working conditions they experience on the job every day.

The authorization vote result means that Minnesota nurses could go on strike starting December 11. Earlier in September, they held a three-day walkout believed to be the largest strike of private-sector nurses in US history.