Steward Holy Family Nurses Join NNU
After a two-year effort to win union representation to improve patient care, 357 registered nurses at Steward Holy Family Hospital in Methuen, Mass., voted last night by a more than two-to-one margin to join the Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United (MNA/NNU).
Steward Health Care, the new for-profit owner of the system, signed an agreement in October 2010 to remain neutral in the months leading up to the union election and assured a process to maintain accurate communication with employees. The MNA already represents nurses at five other Steward facilities.
“We are thrilled to have achieved this victory, which is not only a victory for nurses, but also for our patients and the community we serve,” said Ed Burke, RN, who has worked in the hospital’s pediatric unit for more than three years.
MNA President Donna Kelly-Williams praised the Holy Family RNs for their “courageous effort to stand up for their protected right to advocate for their patients and themselves.”
When nurses are organized, patients are the biggest beneficiaries.
Mass. Nurses Approve New Contract—and More Bargaining News
Nurses from the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA/NNU) ratified a new contract with two hospitals and more news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,400 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work
SETTLEMENTS
MNA/NNU, Cape Cod Hospital Group: Members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA/NNU) at Cape Cod and Falmouth Hospitals ratified a new three-year contract, retroactive to Oct. 1, 2010. The contract includes staffing improvements, placing strict limits on the hospitals’ use of mandatory overtime and creating a staffing committee to review staffing levels for patient and nurse safety.
Nurses and Health Professionals /AFT, Milwaukee County: The Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (WFNHP/AFT) won a one-year contract extension for Milwaukee County nurses, just before the state’s new anti-collective bargaining bill takes effect. AFSCME District Council 48, which represents 3,500 county workers, is hoping to similarly reach a new deal before Wednesday, when the state law goes into effect. Read the rest of this entry »
North Shore Mass. Workers Win Voice and Contracts
Aliza Levine, organizer for the North Shore Labor Council in Massachusetts, sends us this report on some recent worker victories.
In these tough economic times, labor unions fight on and workers are winning some significant victories. On May 26, the North Shore Labor Council (NSLC) in Massachusetts celebrated three important wins for workers: IUE-CWA 201 members won their first contract at Budget Rent A Car after a two-year battle; nurses in the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) won essential safe staffing improvements in new contracts and more than 700 human service workers voted to join SEIU 509.
Even while working people are facing enormous difficulties, these three groups of workers fought to defend their rights on the job. A combination of solid organizing and political action helped these workers achieve victories at the ballot box and the negotiating table. In a month with lots of defensive battles on the horizon in Massachusetts—including legislation to limit health care coverage for municipal employees coming up in the state Senate—the council took some time to celebrate the workers’ hard won victories.
Steelworkers Ratify Pact with RG Steel—and More Bargaining News
The United Steelworkers (USW) at RG Steel ratified a new contract—and more news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,300 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
SETTLEMENTS
USW, RG Steel: The United Steelworkers ratified a new agreement with North America successor RG Steel that covers some 6,000 workers at five facilities in Ohio, Maryland and West Virginia.
25,000 City Workers Near Contract in San Francisco—and More Bargaining News
25,000 city workers in San Francisco reach a tentative agreement—and more news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,200 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
NEGOTIATIONS
Multiple, City of San Francisco: Unions, representing more than 25,000 city workers, have reached a two-year tentative agreement with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, which will help the city close its massive $483 million budget gap. If approved, city workers will take 12 furlough days a year, including the shutdown of nonessential services between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Nurses Union Rallies, Picks DeMoro as Executive Director
Members of National Nurses United (NNU) yesterday wasted no time in raising their voices in support of patients, nurses and working people. Just hours after formally creating the largest union and professional organization of registered nurses in U.S. history, delegates to the NNU’s founding convention rallied outside the Arizona Hospital Association offices in Phoenix.
They served notice they will challenge hospital industry attacks on nurses’ rights and fight to uphold workplace standards. The nurses also pledged to resist corporate cost-cutting measures that reduce patient care and raise nurse-patient ratios. The nurses called for Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act to enhance the ability of nurses and other working people to form unions.
Nurses Unions Merge to Gain Greater Voice in Health Care
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Delegates to the founding convention of the National Nurses United (NNU) yesterday created the largest union and professional organization of registered nurses in U.S. history and immediately pledged to work to expand union representation of nurses and give them a greater voice in health care reform.
The NNU unites three nurses unions: the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC), United American Nurses (UAN) and Massachusetts Nurses Association.
Karen Higgins, an RN from Massachusetts, and one of three newly elected co-presidents of the NNU, said:
The promise of the future has arrived with all the unlimited potential, creativity, vision, and power represented by the delegates in the room, and the 150,000 members of the founding organizations.
Delegates to New RN Super Union Set for Convention
A new National Nurses United union is holding its founding convention Dec. 7-8 in Phoenix. The new union is a joint effort by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC), the United American Nurses (UAN) and the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA).
The 150,000 RN super union was proposed earlier this year by the trio of nurses’ unions. The 23,000-member MNA approved the creation of the NNU in October. The 86,000-strong CNA/NNOC voted to join the super union in September.
Says UAN Secretary-Treasurer Jean Ross, RN:
It is long overdue for all staff nurses to join together nationally to tackle health care reform that works for everyone, safe nurse staffing levels and giving every unorganized nurse in this country who wants a union the chance to join one. None of these goals will be met without the cooperative work of staff nurses, and we can’t wait to get to work building on the good work UAN nurses have begun over the past decade.
Massachusetts Nurses Say ‘Yes’ to RN Super Union
Delegates to the Massachusetts Nurses Association’s (MNA‘s) annual convention yesterday voted overwhelmingly to become part of the largest registered nurses union in U.S. history—National Nurses United (NNU).
The new NNU unifies the 23,000-member MNA with the 86,000-strong California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC), which voted to join the super union in September. The 45,000-member United American Nurses (UAN) will hold a vote on whether to join later this month.
Ad: When Nurses Disappear, So Does Patient Safety
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The nation’s crisis in patient care stems from routine understaffing of registered nurses in hospitals—and that understaffing, say nurses unions, leads to thousands of unnecessary patient deaths a year.
In a move to raise public awareness and build support for national safe staffing level standards, the nation’s three major nurses unions have launched a new TV and online advertising campaign. The campaign coincides with the debut of “HawthoRNe,” one of the new TV shows debuting this season that features nurse characters.
The ad from the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC), United American Nurses (UAN) and Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) asks viewers to imagine a world without nurses.
When nurses disappear, so does patient safety….If you’ve ever been a patient or will be one in the future, insist on safe staffing levels—because it’s our registered nurses who put the care in health care.
