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Mayo Clinic’s Alberta Lea hospital in Minnesota has locked out unionized employees after they staged a demonstration on Dec. 19. The hospital has brought in temporary workers on a 7-day contract to replace 79 nursing assistants, housekeepers, and other workers. The dispute initially began when Mayo made across-the-board changes to its employees’ benefit packages. The SEIU, who represent the locked out workers, says that their failure to bargain over the changes was against the terms of the workers’ contracts. The lockout will continue until the 26th of this month, and negotiations will resume shortly after on December 28th.