As Mayo Clinic hospital workers from Albert Lea are at Mayo headquarters in Rochester this afternoon protesting their six-day lockout, Governor Mark Dayton is urging both sides to do whatever is necessary to resolve the dispute immediately. The governor says, “It’s a terrible situation… under any circumstances, but especially coming [at] this point in the year.”
Mayo locked out 79 workers after their one-day strike Tuesday over stalled contract negotiations. A Mayo spokeswoman says the union knew workers would be locked out but “leadership continues to put its own agenda ahead of the well-being of… our hardworking employees.” It comes as Albert Lea residents protest Mayo’s plan to move most of its inpatient services to Austin.