Why this Allina nurse crossed the picket line

Nurses picket outside Abbott Northwestern Hospital
Nurses picket outside Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis on Monday.
Elizabeth Dunbar | MPR News

Roughly 4,200 Allina nurses are now on strike.

Crystal Rehbein is not one of them. Instead, she's among the approximately 400 nurses who are breaking from the union to cross the picket line. That's about 50 more than three days ago when Allina nurses began their indefinite strike.

Rehbein is a registered nurse in the adult psychiatric unit at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. She's worked there for five years as a full union member but decided to leave the union and become a "fair share" member this past June before Allina nurses went on a one-week strike.

MPR's Cathy Wurzer spoke with Rehbein.

On Friday, MPR News plans to speak with Angela Becchetti, a registered nurse at Abbott Northwestern, and member of the negotiating team for the Allina nurses on strike.

Click on the audio player above to hear their conversation.

Correction (Sept. 9, 2016): Crystal Rehbein's name was misspelled in an earlier version of this story.

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