Union negotiators continue trying to get Mayo Clinic executives to change their mind about outsourcing their food service, but apparently made little progress in meetings Monday and Tuesday. SEIU Healthcare Minnesota President Jamie Gulley says Mayo points to low patient satisfaction scores — but Mayo’s own data show differently. “We are flabbergasted and sort of outraged at any implication that this business decision of Mayo’s is somehow a result of substandard work on our part,” he says. Mayo responds data the union is talking about gives an incomplete picture of patient satisfaction. Clinic officials say a survey by an external organization shows an overall satisfaction with food service of only 51 percent.
Gulley says, “We want to reach an agreement to get this revisited before Mayo signs an agreement with Morrison [the subcontractor] that actually does away with our work, that signs our work over to a subcontractor.” Mayo officials say “they will continue to negotiate in good faith with the unions” and they are are “confident [they] will find a solution that is in the best interest of the food service workers and patients.”