Scab Alert!

Picket Nursing Spectrum Job Fair
8 AM - 5 PM on Wednesday, May 3rd
Holiday Inn, Boxboro, Massachusetts
Take Exit 28 off I-495

Spectrum has been advertising for strikebreaking firms
- Tenet will have a booth at the Spectrum job fair.

We need picketers to join us at this fair to protest
Spectrum's support for scab nursing and strikebreakers.

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Whether you can make it to the picket line in Boxboro or not, call
800-726-8773 to tell this one scab recruiting agency what you think of their
efforts to degrade the nursing profession and jeopardize patient care.
They've advertised in this month's On Call magazine, published as a
supplement to the Boston Globe. Their ad promises "immediate, short-term
assignments" for up to $4,000 per week, plus an extra $200 sign-on bonus if
you're licensed in Massachusetts!

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Help Wanted!

Extra picketers needed this Wednesday evening and every Wednesday evening as
the St. Vincent nurse strikers rally. For up-to-the-minute news on when and
where to picket, call the MNA/St. Vincent Strike Office @ 508-792-2181.

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Join a Nurses' Day Picket on St. Vincent Picket Line!

DATE: Sunday, May 7, 2000
TIME: 12 noon - 4:00 PM
PLACE: Worcester Medical Center

.Directions to Worcester Medical Center:

From 290 East or West use Kelly Square Vernon Street exit. Go through Kelly
Sq. take Green St. (To the right of Merit gas). Go to end of Green St.- take
right at lights. Follow past Fashion outlets, Medical Center in on your right
across from Worcester Centrum.

For up to the minute information contact the St. Vincent Strike Office @
508-792-2181, or call the MNA @ 800-882-2056.

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Short Notices:


... we head back to the table on Thursday, May 4th at 10 am, session called
by Federal Mediator.

Do you know about the Sh' Booms fundraiser on May 18th? More information to
follow.

They're counting the votes in Nyack, New York, right now, where nurses have
been on strike for safe patient care since December. Go to
<http://www.nysna.org/news/press00/nyack.htm> for the latest developments in
Nyack, NY.

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Message from WGBH's Madge Kaplan:

New airdate for all RN staffing story

My look at all-rn staffing with particular focus on experiments at MGH will
air on Tuesday, May 2 on Marketplace. Local airtimes: 6:30PM on 89.7FM and
7pm on 90.9FM. Click on URL below to find out about airtimes in other cities.
Thanks. http://www.marketplace.org/stations/marketplacePM.html
<http://www.marketplace.org/stations/marketplacePM.html>
--
Madge Kaplan
Senior Health Desk Editor - Marketplace
617-300-2312
617-300-1025 (FAX)
madge_kaplan@wgbh.org <mailto:madge_kaplan@wgbh.org>
WGBH Radio, 125 Western Ave., Boston, MA 02134

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Message from former Worcester nurse:

I am an RN, a Memorial Hospital School of Nursing grad, 1973, now living and
working in Charleston, SC at a Columbia-HCA facility. I am also the proud
sister-in-law of a St. V's nurse, Barbara Dziejma. Barbara has been sending
me daily updates of the strike news.

I applaud your courage to stand up to the giant in an effort to protect the
ones nurses care about the most..the patients. At this time, our facility
does not require mandatory overtime..it is still voluntary. Voluntary based
on the commitment of us "old timers" who won't leave the unit understaffed.
Our administration does make an effort to fill the holes with per diem and/or
agency nurses, but our problem is one of not enough skilled nurses available
in the area to meet the need. I haven't had a paycheck without overtime in
years!!

Nurses are human..we get tired..many of us are "mature"(never old), and tire
just a little more quickly. I know my brain gets a fuzzy after a 12 hour
shift, my critical thinking skills dulled. Would the administrators of Tenet
want themselves or their loved ones receiving care for a critical illness
from an overtired, hungry nurse whose mental alertness is less than peak??? I
doubt it..no patient deserves that...and that's why you're on strike...for
the patient, and for the nurses who CARE for them.

So keep up the battle...I am with you on the line, in spirit, every day.

Mary Ann Novick Dziejma, BSN, RN

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Yet Another Message from Australian Nurses:

Dear Sandy,

Thank you for your recent emails and on behalf of the Australian Nursing
Federation (Vic. Branch) we offer our support to your nurses in their fight
for better health care for their patients.

Hannah Sellers
Assistant Secretary, ANF (Vic. Branch)

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Message for Striking Nurses' Spokesperson Sandy Ellis:

Hi Sandy, Just wanted to take a moment to Thank You for forwarding all the
great information regarding the strike to me. I don't always have the extra
time I'd like to sit down and browse, searching for that information.
(although, I'm sure it's not that difficult!) You and Deb R, Anne S and other
members of the negotiating team are to be highly commended for all your
energy and efforts fighting for our cause. I can't even begin to imagine the
amount of time and energy you ALL have put into this. We've have great
spokespersons from our unit, the good ol' SICU, who have kept us well
informed over the past few years. But, it's not until these past few months,
that I began to realize how much you've all been through, for us, your fellow
nurses at SVH. I pray that this all comes to an soon, for us, and for the
other nurses who'll be fighting for the same cause... NO MANDATORY O.T. !!!
We're all tired, and we just want to go home, back where we belong. Taking
care of OUR patients, in our units, in our hospital. Until then, keep up the
Good work!
Jeanne Donahue, RN, SICU

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Educational Offering from MNA Board Member Peggy O'Malley:

Subject: New Element*

Investigators at a major research institution have discovered the heaviest
element known to science. This startling new discovery has been tentatively
named Administratium (Ad).

This new element has no protons or electrons, thus having an atomic number of
0. It does, however, have 1 neutron, 125 assistant neutrons, 75 vice
neutrons, and 111 assistant vice neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by a force called morons, which are
surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

Since it has no electrons, Administratium is inert. However, it can be
detected as it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact.
According to the discoverers, a minute amount of Administratium causes one
reaction to take over four days to complete when it would normally take less
than a second.

Administratium has a normal half-life of approximately three years; it does
not decay but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the
assistant neutrons, vice neutrons, and assistant vice neutrons exchange
places.

In fact, an Administratium sample's mass will actually increase over time,
since with each reorganization, some of the morons inevitably become
neutrons, forming new isotopes.

This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to speculate
that Administratium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in
concentration.

This hypothetical quantity is referred to as the "Critical Morass."

* CEUs applied for.

Previous Worcester Strike Bulletins: