by James Parks, Nov 29, 2007

Nurses from coast to coast rallied today in Lexington, Ky., to show support for strikers at Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH). With the strike soon entering its third month, the financial resources of the picketers are running low, but their resolve is strong.

Rue Hairston, a nurse for 31 years at ARH’s hospital in Beckley, W.Va., says the strikers are not yet in dire straits because of the generous help they’ve received from their brothers and sisters in the union movement. But if they are unable to get a contract soon, many nurses could face tough times, possibly losing homes or having trouble making ends meet, she says.

But Hairston says the struggles and hardships are worth it. She joined with about 50 other nurses and family members early this morning for the nearly four-hour ride to Lexington because “if you believe in something strong enough, you do what you have to do.”

Our patients deserve something better than they’re getting. They’re the only reason we’re here. We like taking care of people, and that’s what we want to be able to do. We keep saying to ARH that we want to stay at the table as long as we have to get the job done. But we can’t seem to get ARH to stay.

At the rally, AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker presented a $20,000 check from the AFL-CIO to provide emergency financial support for striking nurses that will enable them to continue their struggle without fear of losing their homes or filing for bankruptcy. The $20,000 was raised through online donations from union members.

The AFL-CIO Community Services Network has donated tens of thousands of dollars to support the strikers, AFSCME has pitched in with $10,000, as did the California Nurses Association. Other unions and their members are supporting the nurses as well. You can help. Click here to make a secure donation to help these brave workers in their time of need.

The nurses also have the strong support of the nation’s union movement, including the United Steelworkers (USW), whose 2,700 members at ARH hospitals walked out for three weeks in the spring, and the Mine Workers. 

The nearly 700 members of the United American Nurses (UAN) union have been on strike at nine hospitals in Kentucky and West Virginia since Oct. 1. They’re seeking a contract with safer staffing levels and higher patient care standards. The nurses are concerned that management’s staffing decisions and rampant mandatory overtime are preventing them from giving patients the best possible care. In contract negotiations, ARH proposed modest pay raises while demanding to cut holiday pay and increase health care premiums, effectively wiping out the raises

Both sides returned to the bargaining table with a federal mediator yesterday. ARH officials immediately rejected a suggestion by West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D), who encouraged the nurses to return to their jobs for 90 days under the old contract while negotiations continue.

ARH President and CEO Jerry Haynes said there are nurses at the nonprofit’s hospitals working under “under the new contract terms.” He neglected to say the nurses are strike-breakers recruited from across the country and who are being housed in dormitories created out of vacant areas of the hospitals.

Speaking at the rally, Holt Baker told the nurses their struggle mirrors the struggles of all nurses and working people:

The ARH nurses are the epicenter of the labor movement right now.

 

With the holiday season already upon us, you are showing the entire nation what real solidarity is all about. And by holding together and facing this company over safe and adequate staffing and safe working hours, you are showing every patient and every patient’s family what real caring is all about.

Holt Baker also urged Kentucky Gov.-elect Steve Beshear (D), who was elected with the assistance of an unprecedented mobilization by the state’s unions, to help persuade ARH to reach a fair agreement.

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