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New York Nurses Win Ban on Mandatory Overtime |
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Nurses in New York state will soon see the end of a practice dangerous for both nurses and patients: mandatory overtime.
Unions representing New York registered nurses and licensed practical nurses have been fighting for years to achieve a ban on forced overtime. Many hospitals and other health care facilities have strongly opposed overtime limits.
Under an agreement reached last week among the state Assembly, Senate and Gov. David Paterson (D), legislation to eliminate mandatory overtime soon will be passed and on the governor’s desk.
Denis Hughes, president of the New York State AFL-CIO, says the ban on mandatory overtime:
is a tremendous victory for health care workers all across New York state.
The legislation prohibits employers from forcing nurses to work longer than their regular shifts. It applies to hospitals, nursing homes and state and locally run facilities. There is an exception for emergencies and health care disasters. The ban will take effect July 1, 2009.
Says Anne Goldman, head of the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) Health Care Professionals Council:
Mandatory overtime will no longer be an acceptable tool for managers to use to staff our hospitals. The abuses of staff have occurred for far too long, and now it is time to have health care managers do the job of staffing.
Mandatory overtime forces nurses to work long hours with little rest, potentially compromising the quality of care in our health care facilities. Paterson says the legislation
will help increase the quality of care nurses are able to provide to patients…and will allow our facilities to retain and recruit a vital nursing workforce.
Forced overtime is cited by most health care professional as a key factor in nurses leaving the profession. Nurses say that working long hours far beyond their normal shifts, sometimes to the point of exhaustion, not only puts their health at risk but, but patient care, too.
Tina Gerardi, an RN and chief executive officer of the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), puts it this way:
An end to mandatory overtime will ensure that nurses are not forced to work beyond the point where they can provide safe patient care.
Ken Brynien, president of the New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF), says elimination of mandatory overtime will help ease the state’s nursing shortage.
Ending mandatory overtime will help recruit and retain nurses, which is an essential step toward ending the nursing crisis and improving patient safety.
Along with the PEF, NYSNA and NYSUT, the coalition of unions that worked to win the mandatory overtime ban includes AFT, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and SEIU.
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I talked with Joan Moore and she agreed that I could change the words to her song. She said she got the melody from an old Irish folk song “Are you right Michael” or it was “Ennis to Kilkee” by Perch French she does not have the sheet music but I am searching for it. She changed the words in the Folk music Tradition and her words are over twenty years old and the copyright is expired. So here are the new stanzas:
MORE FORCED OVERTIME TONIGHT: HOSPITAL VERSION
THE LIVES OF HEALTH WORKERS 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
PLEASE SEE IF THE NURSES OR WANT TO USE THIS. THEY CAN E-MAIL ME OR CALL AT 650-355-8102 I do have the melody on a cd. I AM ALWAYS READY TO HELP A SISTER OR BROTHER IN THE LABOR MOVEMENT.
Dave Hurlburt
Good news! Also good to see a variety of unions uniting over this issue! Just wish SEIU and NNOC could come to the table and iron out their differences so all healthcare workers could organize and improve their jobs!