A nurses labor union reached a tentative agreement Thursday for their 2025 contract with hospital employers in the Twin Cities and avoided a strike after nearly four months of negotiations, according to union officials.

The Minnesota Nurses Association, which represents more than 15,000 members in the Twin Cities and Duluth, announced that the agreement came following 30 straight hours of negotiations, adding that nurses “faced an uphill battle this year” due to hospital budget constraints.

Union officials said in a Thursday statement that those constraints are largely driven by impending federal Medicaid cuts expected as part of President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” federal spending act. The House gave final approval to the bill Thursday. Around 1.16 million Minnesotans receive Medicaid benefits, adding up to $12 billion in the state in 2023.

Contract negotiations happened with officials in seven health systems, including Allina Health, Aspirus St. Luke’s, Children’s Minnesota, Essentia Health, M Health Fairview, HealthPartners and North Memorial Health. Twin Cities Hospitals Group represented Children’s, Fairview, HealthPartners’ Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park and North Memorial Health in Robbinsdale in contract negotiations. Minor details are expected to be finalized early next week, according to Minnesota Nurses Association officials.

“Today, our metro hospitals have moved forward with a new tentative agreement with our nurses’ union that recognizes our nurses with a 10 percent wage increase over three years,” said Twin Cities Hospitals Group officials in a Thursday statement. “Our goal with these negotiations was to provide for high-quality, affordable patient care that meets the needs of our community. We remain mindful of the dynamic and ever-changing nature of healthcare, which requires us all to bring our best to those we serve.”

Allina Health, which is not affiliated with Twin Cities Hospitals Group, announced the agreement in a separate statement.

“We are pleased to announce that Allina Health and Minnesota Nurses Association reached a tentative agreement early this morning. The settlement is now subject to ratification by union membership,” Allina Health officials said in the Thursday statement.

While nurses in the Twin Cities have reached a tentative agreement, nurses in Duluth, including at several Essentia locations, are prepared to strike Tuesday, with advanced practice providers joining July 10. Nurses at Aspirus St. Luke’s Hospital in Duluth canceled their strike notice Thursday.

“Nurses have always said this fight isn’t just about contracts, it’s about safe care,” said MNA president Chris Rubesch, a nurse with Essentia Health in Duluth, in a statement. “We heard from our members loud and clear: staffing levels were the number one priority in these negotiations, for the first time ahead of wages and it will continue to be a principal concern as we move forward caring for our patients in the future.”

Changes and updates from the 2022 contract include new language around nurses’ breaks based on state law, tools to address workplace violence and a 3% raise in the first year, 4% in the second and 3% in the third.

“We’ve been fighting an uphill battle,” Rubesch said. “The campaign may be over for now in the metro, but the fight for safe staffing and patient care is far from over.”

“Nurses will continue to stand with our union siblings at Essentia facilities, united in the fight for a fair bargaining process — and for clinic nurses and (advanced practice providers) that means winning their first contracts,” Rubesch added. “If Aspirus can come to the table to negotiate in good faith with nurses, Essentia can come to the table and negotiate in good faith as well.”