Workers seek answers after Minneapolis’ Rainbow Health abruptly shuts down
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Rainbow Health, a Minneapolis nonprofit that serves LGBTQ and HIV-affected Minnesotans, abruptly closed its doors Thursday — stunning dozens of unionized workers who were told they no longer had a job.
SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa, the union that represents Rainbow Health workers, said in a release that employees received an email Thursday about an emergency all-staff meeting, after which Rainbow Health’s board chair told the workers that the nonprofit was closing immediately.
The union, which represents about 60 Rainbow Health employees, said its contract requires 30 days’ notice of layoffs of unionized workers. The employees, however, found out just hours before Rainbow Health announced it was closing with received no explanation, SEIU said Thursday.
“We are shocked, saddened and angered by this news, both as staff dedicated to Rainbow Health’s mission and even more so for our clients and community,” said the Rainbow Health Workers Coordinating Committee — the group representing unionized employees — in a statement. “We are left with many huge questions: How could this massive decision come with no warning?”
Rainbow Health’s CEO resigned just a few days prior to Thursday’s announcement, the union said, after a vote of no confidence by the unionized workers.
Rainbow Health did not immediately respond to the Reformer’s voicemail requesting comment.
The nonprofit offered case management and mental health services to LGBTQ Minnesotans and was created in 2018 after a merger between the Minnesota AIDS Project and the Rainbow Health Initiative.
“As we demand answers to these questions from the organization’s board of directors, we are united and will keep fighting for our rights as workers and to find ways to ensure continuity of client care for the community members we serve,” the Rainbow Health Workers Coordinating Committee said Thursday.
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