Another First for Berlin: Health Workers ‹ A First Contract!
<http://www.ranknfile-ue.org/newsupdates/news.php?topicid=16&pageID=uenews&pagetype=article>
UE News Update (Web Version), February 1, 2002
BARRE, Vt. - On Jan. 29, the mostly women workers at Berlin Health and Rehabilitation made history again ‹ by gaining a first contract after an extraordinary, 15-month struggle. Berlin workers made history in August 2000 by becoming the first nursing home employees in Vermont to organize, and the first US employees of CPL/REIT to gain union recognition. The largest owner/operator of nursing homes in Canada, where it is based, CPL/REIT owns 20 nursing homes in the United States. Ninety-five percent of the Canadian facilities are unionized, none in the US ‹ except for Berlin. Local 254 members are now the first nursing home workers in Vermont, and the first CPL/REIT employees in the US, to have a union contract. The 13-month agreement substantially raises wages, especially for the lowest paid employees. A 17-year employee whose wages had never reached $7 will see $9 an hour. For the first time, workers will have an equal voice with management on the crucial issue of staffing, through the contract´s creation of a staffing committee. The agreement doubles the amount sick days, a gain especially valued by the many single mothers in the workforce. ...
Sligo nurses vote for industrial action
<http://www.rte.ie/news/2002/0205/nurses.html>
RTé, February 5, 2002
Nurses have voted to take industrial action at St John's Hospital in Sligo on Friday. Irish Nurses Organisation members at the hospital for the elderly have accused the North Western Health Board of failing to honour an agreement about staffing levels brokered by the Labour Court in 1999.
Noel Treanor, INO Industrial Relations Officer, says that the nurses understood that a final agreement had been reached with the Board. "Now they find themselves again working short on the wards as management refuse to maintain the agreed numbers," he said.
Mr Treanor described health services for the elderly as "the Cinderella of health care". He added that discussions are ongoing and he is hopeful that agreement can be reached without resorting to industrial action. This would consist of nurses refusing to undertake extraneous duties.
Canterbury nurses accept 10 per cent pay deal but warn issues still outstanding
<http://www.mytown.co.nz/story/mytstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=159057&thecity=christchurch&thepage=home&type=nzh&storytoolsnzh=1>
Bob Cotton, Christchurch Star, February 6, 2002
Fresh from settling their current industrial dispute with the district health board, Canterbury hospital nurses and midwives are warning there are still issues to be resolved. While accepting a 10 per cent pay rise over 22 months (to June 23, 2003) to settle the current row they are warning the Canterbury District Health Board against complacency. The nurses and midwives voted this week to accept the board's offer, bringing to an end the seven month dispute which saw strike action, threats of hospital closures and patients being evacuated, and warnings of possible patient deaths. This included a two day strike and at one stage notice of a further 15 days of strike action. However while the nurse and midwives have ratified the settlement, New Zealand Nurses Organisation organiser and advocate Anthony Rimell said there was a high degree of frustration over the poor relationship that existing between nursing and the employer for many years. "In addition, members remain concerned that the overall pay issue for nursing has only begun to be addressed by this settlement. "Many nurses are still looking overseas because of the better pay and conditions. "This settlement is a good first step, but it is only the first step,'' he said. ...
Nurses use new law to assist efforts to unionize
ESCONDIDO A new and little-known state law that makes it easier and faster for nurses to gain union representation has pro-union nurses cheering and Palomar Pomerado Health system administrators crying foul. Assembly Bill 1281, which took effect Jan. 1, eliminates the need to hold an election among nurses or other public employees in a bargaining unit to approve union representation. Instead, the law permits union supporters to simply gather signatures of more than 50 percent of the unit. Pro-union nurses in the Palomar Pomerado system have been asking district officials for months to schedule an election to decide if the majority of the system's 600 nurses want to be represented by the California Nurses Association. The nurses have been frustrated by what they describe as delay tactics by the health system, which operates Palomar Medical Center in Escondido and Pomerado Hospital in Poway. System officials have denied delaying an election, and said the nurses now are circumventing the process. "We think it's the height of hypocrisy," Gil Taylor, vice president of human resources, said yesterday. "They feel they have a better chance of winning with the authorization cards rather than from an election." Taylor said he believes the health system may be the first public agency in the state to be affected by the new legislation, and hinted officials may challenge it in court. ...
Organizer says nurses are being intimidated in union bid
<http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/wed/metro/news_1mi6nurses.html>
John Berhman, San Diego Union Tribune, February 6, 2002
ESCONDIDO A union organizer and a pro-union nurse said yesterday they are upset by a memo that says the Palomar Pomerado Health system will not honor the results of a signature campaign to gain union representation for nurses. They also accused the hospital district of attempting to reduce the numbers of nurses eligible to vote on union representation by designating many nurses as supervisors, even though they rarely work in that capacity. Union supporters in the district are circulating cards for nurses to sign authorizing the California Nurses Association to represent them. They allege the district has been stalling on calling an election. Union activists recently decided to use a state law, Assembly Bill 1281, which became effective Jan. 1. It allows for public employees to gain union representation if more than 50 percent of the work force signs authorization cards, eliminating the need for an election. The memo "Talking Points Regarding Authorization Cards" was posted by the district within the past few days. It urges employees not to sign the authorization cards because "they are giving up their right to a secret-ballot election." It also says: "PPH will not recognize CNA as a representative of registered nurses unless a majority of the nurses voting in a secret-ballot election choose CNA." ...
More nurses walk off the job
<http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article.jhtml?articleID=271453>
Nina Berglundsten, Aftenposten, February 7, 2002
Another 59 nurses went on strike at four hospitals already hit by the labour action that began last month. The new walk-out brings to 850 the total number of nurses off the job. The nurses joined others already on strike at hospitals in Hedmark, Ålesund, Oppland and Ullevål in Oslo. Nurses at a host of other hospitals nationwide are also on strike. Out-patient care and elective surgery are the areas targeted by the striking nurses, who want to avoid getting a back-to-work order from the government. Such an order can be issued if it's determined that a strike endangers life and health. The strike is expected to continue to spread, with more than 1,100 off the job from next week. The nurses are holding out for higher pay and their spirits reportedly remain high. ...
Health-care walkout halted
<http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWSTopNews/healthcare_feb7-cp.html>
Canadian Press, February 7, 2002
VANCOUVER (CP) -- Health-care workers called off a a provincewide walkout planned Thursday after the BC Labour Relations Board ruled the action would be illegal. The workers, members of the Hospital Employees' Union, planned the walkout to protest provincial legislation tearing up collective bargaining agreements with health-sector unions and cleared the way for more private-sector delivery of health services. But in a ruling issued shortly before midnight Wednesday night, the labour board said the union cannot organize, initiate or authorize a such a walkout because it would be an illegal strike. Union leader Chris Allnutt said the union executive was advising its 46,000 members to report for work. But the fight isn't over, he said. "This is shaping up as a real David and Goliath fight between tens of thousands of health-care workers -- mostly women -- and a premier who relies on legislative vandalism to strip working people of basic rights and communities of critical health-care services," Allnutt said in a news release. ...
Nurses' union alleges unfair labor practices
<http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/fri/metro/news_1mc8palpom2.html>
San Diego Union-Tribune, February 8, 2002
ESCONDIDO The California Nurses Association filed an unfair-labor-practices claim with the state yesterday, alleging that the local hospital district is interfering with the efforts of nurses to have the union represent them. Pro-union nurses and CNA organizers allege that Palomar Pomerado Health administrators have been stalling the nurses' attempts to schedule an election, and that more recently the district has been trying to "coerce and interfere with the exercise of employee rights." ...
Striking nurses press for details
Representatives of more than 1,000 striking nurses say union members on Sunday will end the seven-week strike against Oregon Health & Science University Hospital, despite strong misgivings about the length of the proposed contract. ³Today we¹re fielding a lot of questions from nurses who want more details, and there are a lot of mixed feelings about the contract,² said Diana Wise, a surgical critical care nurse who was staffing phones at the nurses¹ strike headquarters Thursday morning. The nurses¹ concern is that the union agreed to a three-year pact instead of the two-year deal they have sought throughout the sometimes acrimonious negotiations. OHSU spokesman Jim Newman said the university can ³comfortably sustain² salary increases that span the three years. Aaron Crane, OHSU¹s chief financial officer, said: ³There is not a pot of money to spend endlessly. This is a compromise we felt would work.² For the nurses, the three-year agreement was a good compromise, according to Wise. ³We were pushing hard for a two-year contract, but what the nurses will learn is that we are not locked into three years,² she said. ³We will have the option to open it up, and we¹ve proved we¹re not afraid to do that.² Still, Wise said she expects approval of the proposed contract during the daylong vote Sunday. ³A majority just wants to go back to work and get back into their comfort zone,² said Wise, who added that the union is strongly recommending a ³yes² vote. The tentative agreement ‹ reached at 5:30 am Wednesday after 33 grueling hours of negotiations Monday and Tuesday ‹ proposes a contract that would give OHSU nurses a 20.5 percent wage increase over three years. The contract breaks down to 7 percent for each of the first two years and 6.5 percent in the third year. It is retroactive to Oct. 1. The nurses went on strike Dec. 17. ...
Nurses' 'Wake-up Call'
With no end in sight to their 75-day-long strike, about 60 nurses from St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown picketed the Catholic heart of Long Island Friday, hoping to "wake up" the top of the St. Catherine's health care chain. The busload of nurses showed up in front of St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Centre wearing red and white at about 1:15 Friday afternoon, parading a 6-foot sign that read, "Catholic Health Services Unfair to Registered Nurses - No Forced Overtime." The nurses have been opposed to the hospital using forced overtime as a normal staffing procedure. Talks broke down Jan. 25 and have not yet resumed. Michael Chacon, the nurses' representative from the nurses union, New York State Nurses Association, said they have received no response from Bishop William Murphy, who heads the Rockville Centre-based Roman Catholic Diocese, which oversees Catholic Health Services of Long Island, the network to which St. Catherine's belongs. "Catholic Health Services refuses to come to the table right now," Chacon said, calling Friday's picket line a "wake-up call." "Mandatory overtime as a staffing tool should only be used in case of a real emergency," he said. ...
Striking nurses approve contract with OHSU
<http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=37304>
The Associated Press, February 11, 2002
PORTLAND ‹ Striking nurses approved a contract agreement Sunday with Oregon Health & Sciences University, bringing an end to a 56-day walkout. The nurses voted 736-118 in favor of the new contract and will return to work Wednesday, according to Oregon Nurses Association spokesman Jim Berialt. ³I¹m very comfortable with this,² said Dominga Lopez, president of OHSU¹s association of registered nurses. ³It¹s a good compromise, but there is a lot of work to do.² The strike, which began in December, included loud union rallies and picketing, as well as charges and countercharges over the use of replacement workers and the quality of patient care. The agreement provides for a 7 percent pay raise the first year of a new contract, a 7 percent raise the second year and a minimum 6.5 percent raise in the third year, OHSU officials said. The third-year increase ³and a variety of differentials² would be tied to an index of five large Portland area hospitals, officials said. ...
Eroding worker rights will backfire on premier
<http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=6AC4CCE1-AE3D-4958-A41A-6B0DAE762C3F>
Sharon Armstrong, Saltspring Island, Victoria Times Colonist, February 11, 2002
Last year nurses and other health professionals were legislated contracts by the provincial government. Black Thursday has come and gone and now we have teachers being legislated back to work. Bill 29 is passed.
These are frightening events for all workers in this province. It is bad news for nurses as employment security provisions, labour adjustment provisions and labour-management consultation processes that were part of the imposed legislation for nurses are dissolved.
This is devastating news for the public as the Gordon Campbell government has given sweeping powers to downsize facilities and destroy patient services. It opens the door to extensive privatization of health care and it has been proven time and time again that costs go up and quality goes down when services move to the private, for-profit sector.
Over the long term the ill-treatment of workers in BC will have a negative effect on our economy as workers leave the province.
Furthermore, BC will be viewed with disdain as the government refuses to support workers in the face of increasingly unjust labour practices by employers.
We, the public, are the only opposition to this landslide government. We must make them accountable and we must take action to fight for our public health-care system and fight against the erosion of worker rights.
© Copyright 2002 Victoria Times Colonist
Many reasons why nurses will 'win' contract battle
<http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=DF4CBE52-7A3E-487B-95B6-FFF5F3B37887>
Murray Mandryk, Regina Leader Post, February 11, 2002
The odds are that Saskatchewan nurses are about to win their battle for money ... although how much of a victory may depend on how you define "win". Obviously, the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) won't "win" the 30-per-cent over three years increase that it is initially demanding. Unions seldom get everything they want. But the nurses will likely get their bottomline which, according to sources, is believed to be around 15-per-cent over three years. (A union's bottomline often tends to be about half its opening demand and you may recall that a 22-per-cent increase was the nurses' opening demand in 1999. They settled for a 13.1 per cent.) Frankly, though, there are a few reason to suspect that Saskatchewan nurses may even do better than 15 per cent. First, if you only look at the bottomline wage (and more in a moment on why we specifically shouldn't do that), the $26.55 an hour that a top-of-scale Saskatchewan nurse will receive come April 1 under the existing contract is significantly less than the $32.42 an hour the same nurse would receive in Alberta. Given the national nursing shortage, there is credence to SUN's argument that Saskatchewan may never achieve its full complement of nurses unless the nursing wages here are reasonably competitive with those in Alberta and BC. (Although, given the machete that BC Premier Gordon Campbell is now taking to that province's civil service, that argument may be weakening slightly.) ...
Editorial Comment: See ³Nurses not as well-paid as columnist says² below.
Nurses Ratify Contract with a 86% to 14% Vote
Portland, Ore.- After nearly two months on the picket line, registered nurses represented by the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) will return to their jobs at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) on Wednesday. As a symbol of solidarity, the nurses plan to walk into the hospital together, whether or not they are actually scheduled to work that morning. Nurses will meet at Union Hall, 1010 SW Gibbs at 6 AM, Wednesday, February 13 to march in unison down the hill to the hospital. Each nurse who struck will wear a purple ribbon.
Eighty-six percent of the nurses marking ballots on Sunday voted in favor of a new contract, ending the strike after 56 days. The three-year contract includes wage increases of at least 20.5% and commits OHSU to developing a less expensive health insurance plan for its employees. In addition, nurses gained greater authority over patient care issues.
"Things will be different at OHSU from now on," said ONA labor negotiator Kathleen Sheridan, RN after last night's vote count. "These nurses took a stand for their profession and for their patients. The new contract reflects their demand for respect and their right to better working conditions. We sincerely hope this will help the University hospitals and clinics attract new nurses. We know it will improve patient care at OHSU."
When the strike began on December 17, 2001, OHSU had approximately 200 open positions for registered nurses. The number of nurses who will not return to work at OHSU because they accepted other jobs is, as yet, unknown.
SIPTU to ballot A&E nurses on strike action
<http://www.rte.ie/news/2002/0212/nurses.html>
RTé, February 12, 2002
SIPTU's National Nursing Council says that it will begin balloting members tomorrow over what it says is the crisis in accident and emergency units around the country.
The union says that it is worse now than ever before, with overcrowding and the constant threat of violence and aggression against nurses in A&E units becoming part of daily life. National Nursing Officer with SIPTU, Oliver McDonagh, says that he will meet members and recommend industrial action.
He said that, in the meantime, he was calling on the Minister for Health, Mícheal Martin, to take emergency steps to deal with the chaos that loomed in so many hospitals and create a real and lasting solution to the problem.
INO Campaign to Address Overcrowding &
Excessive Workloads in A&E Departments
The Irish Nurses Organisation will commence the first of a series of two and three hour strikes, in all Accident and Emergency Departments around the country, and initiate a continuous work to rule on Wednesday, March 13th in protest at the failure of hospital managements to deal with the chronic overcrowding and the resulting excessive workloads on nurses which is now a daily occurrence in these departments. This strategy, which will be formally approved by ballot has been agreed following extensive consultation with members, working in all of the countries 46 A&E Departments and following an emergency meeting of the Organisation¹s A&E Nurse Representatives held last week. The industrial action will see the complete withdrawal of INO members from A&E Departments, for the two hours of the strikes, with an emergency response team remaining on standby, but not working, ready to react in the event of major trauma or the activation of the hospital¹s major accident plan. The two hour strike will be extended to a three hour stoppage on Wednesday, March 20th if no progress is made on dealing with the twin problems of overcrowding and excessive workloads. In addition INO members will also commence a continuous work to rule which will see them withdraw from more clerical/admin work and extended role duties.This action will put pressure upon hospital managements and senior medical staff. This radical nationwide action is being taken as a direct result of: the abject failure of hospital management to fully comprehend and deal with the overcrowding and workload problems over recent years; the inability and/or unwillingness of consultant medical staff to agree and comply with admission and discharge policies which must involve the cancellation of elective admissions when overcrowding occurs; the absence of proper communication between the ERHA, Health Boards and General Practitioners to ensure adequate, comprehensive community services particularly in the evenings and at weekends. The result of this complete systems failure is intolerable working conditions for nursing staff and unacceptable levels of care and care environments for patients attending A&E Departments. ...
Response teams in place during A&E strikes
<http://www.rte.ie/news/2002/0213/nurses.html>
RTé, February 13, 2002
Emergency response teams will remain in hospitals while a series of two-hour strikes by members of the Irish Nurses' Organisation begin in casualty units next month.
The strikes will take place in the country's 46 A&E units on 13 March. They will be extended to three hours in the following week if no progress is made.
The Irish Nurses' Organisation said that its members would also begin a continuous work to rule next month, in protest at overcrowding and excessive workloads on nurses working in such units. Nurses affiliated to SIPTU were balloted today on possible industrial action. They are expected to join the INO in taking industrial action.
The Minister for Health, Micheál Martin, has proposed a forum of all interests. However, the INO said that a similar forum six years ago for the Dublin hospitals failed to solve the problem.
The nurses believe that a senior admissions officer is needed on a 24-hour basis to manage bed capacity. Hospital consultants are also required early in the morning and late at night in order to discharge patients.
Despite the mild winter, Accident and Emergency units have experienced severe pressure, with extra trolleys on corridors and severe overcrowding. Major hospitals have experienced the worst conditions. These include Dublin¹s Mater, Saint James' and Beaumont, as well as those in Cork, Limerick, Mullingar, Roscommon and Naas.
Nurses return to OHSU, but strike tension chills the air
<http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/front_page/10136913831676181.xml>
Wendy Y. Lawton, The Oregonian, February 14, 2002
For the first time in 59 days, Laurelen Jabbour woke up to an alarm clock Wednesday. It was 4:30 am. As a nurse at Oregon Health & Science University, it was time to get back to work. Jabbour drove from her 10-acre Banks farm to the 263-acre Portland campus, fell in line with about 200 fellow nurses, and marched onto the job after striking for nearly two months. The symbolic pre-dawn stroll into the main lobby of OHSU Hospital put an end to one of the longest labor disputes in Oregon in a generation. When Jabbour got to the 14th floor of the hospital -- where she's worked since 1975 -- her employee badge didn't work. She recognized only one nurse's face. Over lunch, she had a chilly conversation with a colleague who had crossed the picket line. And Jabbour spent eight hours caring for five post-surgery patients. Nurses said that was the lesson after the labor dispute: Going back to work can be the toughest part of walking off the job. Oregon's busiest medical center was plainly divided during the strike. Rhetoric was harsh, rumors flew. But on Wednesday, staff members had to face each other -- and work together. Nurses, doctors, patients and managers reported a range of reactions, from warm hugs to cold shoulders. Just about everyone reported a lot of anxiety. ...
Nurses not as well-paid as columnist says
<http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=17589751-B209-4AB1-95C5-B6738BDB1F22>
Linda McPhee, RN, Regina, Regina Leader Post, February 14, 2002
After reading Murray Mandryk's column in the Feb. 9 Leader-Post, I had to write to clarify/correct some of the facts and figures he presented.
In order of error:
In 1999 The Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) settled for two per cent per year plus benefits, not 13.1 per cent on wages.
No general duty nurse in Saskatchewan, now or in April, makes $26.55 per hour. This rate is for a Nurse ll, in a supervisory role. The top rate for a general duty nurse, the one that actually looks after you, is $24.92.
For a general duty nurse at top scale to make $62,000 per year, she or he would have to work approximately 20 12-hour overtime shifts.
Nurses cannot claim overtime for a second weekend worked. It is true that all nurses, casual, full-time, or part-time, working eight-hour or 12-hour shifts, can claim overtime for a third weekend worked. And it is a fact that most wards could not function without overtime -- there are not enough staff to fill their shifts.
Caring and goodwill aside, should we, as nurses, not be paid extra for working more than full-time? Most of us also have lives outside the hospital. We need at least two week's notice of what shifts we're working. If there was no deterrent premium, shifts could be assigned at random.
As far as wages go, let's compare apples to apples. The starting wage for a general duty nurse in Alberta is $24.70 before premiums, while the top rate is $32.42 plus premiums. In Saskatchewan, $24.92, plus premiums, is the top rate for a general duty nurse.
I would have thought that Mandryk would do better research than talking to some nurse's husband.
© Copyright 2002 Regina Leader Post
Nursing strike hitting many patients
<http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article.jhtml?articleID=276014>
Jonathan Tisdall, Aftenposten, February 14, 2002
Director General of Health Lars Hanssen believes that the nursing strike has now lasted long enough to have an impact on many patients, but still does not assess the action as posing a threat to anyone's life or health. If industrial action in the health sector is determined to pose a direct danger to the public then the government can intervene to force a resolution.
"In the summer holidays we would not define staffing levels as posing a threat to life or health, and staffing now is not lower than during a normal holiday," Hanssen said.
Hanssen has sympathy for those who find it unpleasant to have to wait for treatment, but stressed that the Norwegian Board of Health assesses the strike against the bottom line of endangerment, and that level has not been reached yet. Hanssen follows the progress and impact of the strike closely and received reports from regional doctors up to several times daily.
On Thursday another 74 nurses joined the strike and further escalation is promised on Feb. 16, 19 and 21. By then 1,123 nurses will be out at the 28 hospitals the state took over at the beginning of this year.
The strike hits the one month mark on Feb. 22, when national arbitrator Reidar Webster will contact both sides in the dispute. The arbitrator's office said however that talks would only start if there was a basis for them, and nothing would be done then if the sides were as deadlocked as they are now. The arbitrator's office is obliged to try and nudge the sides towards an agreement at monthly intervals.
The nursing association's handling of the strike is designed to avoid a crisis that would result in compulsory arbitration. The union demands a common wage agreement for all of the 30,000 nurses employed in hospitals, and at the wage level the hospitals had before being taken over by the state.
Saint Catherine of Siena Medical Center Strike
<http://www.nysna.org/NEWS/current/stcath.htm>
* Nurses Parade Scheduled Tomorrow St. Catherine's nurses will hold a parade from 12:00 Noon to 2:00 PM on Saturday, February 16, 2002. The parade will travel Main Street and St. Johnland Road in Smithtown, from Lawrence Avenue to the hospital. The nurses will be joined by members of Long Island labor unions, NYSNA colleagues from area hospitals, and local elected public officials.
* NLRB Orders Hospital to Pay Nurses Back Striking RNs who opted out of the hospital¹s healthcare plan will now receive the full $500 they are entitled, as a result of charges filed by NYSNA. Under an agreement with NYSNA, St. Catherine¹s is to provide nurses who do not wish to take part the healthcare plan with two ³opt-out² payments of $500 per year. RNs who opted out were supposed to have received a full $500 in January, but the hospital only sent them a partial payment, saying they would not pay the remainder because the nurses were on strike. NYSNA filed a charge of unfair labor practice with the National Labor Relations Board. The NLRB has ordered the hospital to make full payments; checks should be arrive soon.
* To the people of Smithtown: Support the RNs - Say ³No² to the Bishop¹s Annual Appeal The registered nurses of St. Catherine's are asking for the community's support in our fight for safe patient care. If you recently received a letter from the Bishop¹s Annual Appeal, we ask you withhold your donation until the strike is resolved. We suggest a note such as:
³I must inform you that I cannot pledge a donation at this time to the Bishop¹s Annual Appeal. I give of myself and my time to my church and also give monetary contributions. But I will not give to the Diocese at this time, due to the fact that I support the striking registered nurses of St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center. Catholic Health Services of Long Island is treating its nurses unfairly by prolonging this strike. Until this dispute is settled, I will not be contributing.²
We thank you for your help. By working together, we can ensure that St. Catherine¹s patients receive the quality health care they need and deserve.
* CHS Corporate Office Picketing Scheduled Weekly After two very successful pickets at Catholic Health Services (parent corporation of St. Catherine of Siena) of Long Island corporate offices, striking RNs have decided to make it a regular event. They will picket Mondays, 12:00 Noon to 2:00 PM, until strike issues are resolved. Corporate offices are at One Huntington Quadrangle, Melville.
Union Nurses: Today's Nurse Leaders
The Labor Guild's School of Industrial Relations, with faculty provided by the MNA, is presenting an eight-week course for union nurses who want to learn how to make their local bargaining units more powerful and effective in in dealing with professional and union issues facing nurses in today's critical health care environment. The course will feature classes on the history of nurse activism and the Nurse Practice Act, internal organizing, political/legislative action, media relations, coalition building and grassroots organizing for the survival of the nursing profession. The cost for all eight weeks is $80 with contact hours provided by the MNA. For information or to register, contact 617-786-1822. MNA bargaining units are encouraged to consider sponsoring members to participate in this program.