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Striking Nurses Approve New Pact with Appalachian Regional Healthcare
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Striking nurses in West Virginia and Kentucky yesterday approved a new tentative agreement that could send them back to work soon.
Nearly 700 members of the United American Nurses (UAN) union have been on strike at nine Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH) hospitals since Oct. 1. The UAN members are 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.
ARH hired replacement nurses and housed them in vacant wings of the hospitals. A statement from the nurses says most workers will be called back to work by the end of January. And it says the company has agreed to try to return at least 80 percent of striking workers back to where they were before the stoppage. Sarah Hundley, president of Kentucky Nurses Association/UAN Local 114 in Harlan, Ky., and state collective bargaining chair, says:
We did the very best we could, and we got as much as could be gotten. It’s cold. Nurses shouldn’t be on the picket line. Nurses should be taking care of patients. We persevered for the patients.
In a written statement, Pat Tanner, the nurses’ chief negotiator, said:
Obviously, the last three months have been a difficult time for everyone, but I am happy to report that in this proposed tentative agreement—the Kentucky and West Virginia Nurses Associations remain strong and intact. No nurse is left behind, and our issues have been addressed.
Striking nurse Renee Campbell in Whitesburg, Ky., told WYMT TV:
We’ve been here three months. It’s been way too long. We have a lot of experience sitting on this line that needs to be in the hospital working with our communities, which is what we want to do.
The striking nurses were drawing support from union members from across the nation. Last month, nurses from coast to coast rallied in Lexington, Ky., at ARH headquarters to show support for the strikers.
The AFL-CIO has donated tens of thousands of dollars to support the strikers, and AFSCME has pitched in with $10,000, as did the California Nurses Association.
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To My sisters and Brothers
I prayed thaT YOU WOULD GET A SETTLEMENT AND YOU HAVE GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND GOOD LUCK
IN SOLIDARITY
DAVE HURLBURT CWA LOCAL 9410
MORE FORCED OVERTIME TONIGHT: HOSPITAL VERSION
THE LIves OF We Nurses ARE’NT EASY,
WE WORK THROUGH THE DAY AND THE NIGHT.
ONE EMERGENCY AFTER ANOTHER
THIS KIND OF CARE IS’NT RIGHT.
HOSPITAL WORK IS BAD FOR THE FAMILY,
WE DON’T MAKE IT HOME EVERY NIGHT.
ADMINISTRATORS SAY, “LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT”
WHILE THEIR PROFITS GROW WAY OUT OF SIGHT,
BUT WORST OF ALL I’M TELLING YOU
WE CANT GO HOME WHEN SHIFT IS THROUGH
BECAUSE THERE’S:
CHORUS
MORE FORCED OVERTIME TONIGHT
I HOPE THAT I’LL BE HOME BEFORE IT’S LIGHT
OH MY FAMILY IS A GRIEVIN
AND THEIR EVEN TALKIN LEAVIN,
BUT THERE’S MORE FORCED OVERTIME TONIGHT.
DAY AFTER DAY WITH NO TIME OFF,
BEGINS TO TAKE Its TOLL,
IF YOUR TIRED YOU JUST BETTER BE THERE,
CAUSE THE BOSSES SAY ABSENCE CONTROL.
IT’S CHEAPER TO FORCE US ALL O.T.
WHILE THE JOBLESS CONTINUE TO GROW
AND PATIENTS CONTINUES TO SUFFER
WHILE THE HOSPITAL RAKES IN MORE DOUGH
TWELVE HOUR DAYS OR EVEN MORE
WHAT THE HELL WE LIVIN FOR?
CHORUS
WE CAN’T CONTINUE TO TAKE IT
IT IS TIME TO FIGHT WHERE WE STAND
FORCED OVERTIME IS JUST SLAVERY
LET’S CHANGE THE LAWS OF THE LAND.
THE CHAINS OF OUR SLAVERY ARE WAGES
THERE REASON FOR FORCING IS GREED
WHEN ALL OF THE FAMILY IS WORKING
MORE TIME OFF THE JOBS WHAT WE NEED
LET’S ALL WORK FOR A SHORTER DAY
AND NEVER MORE WELL HAVE TO SAY
CHORUS
BY DAVID HURLBURT