Workers’ Blog: Independent Voice for Blood Safety at Red Cross
 |
Concerned about the safety of the nation’s supply, a group of blood donation workers has formed the Workers Committee for Blood Safety. The licensed nurses, phlebotomists, and blood drive staff from across the country also launched a website and blog to provide an independent voice for protecting donor and blood safety.
The Keep Blood Drives Safe blog features a Sept. 1 Philadelphia Inquirer article highlighting problems at new Red Cross blood centers in Philadelphia and Charlotte, N.C. The new centers were set up to consolidate a crucial part of the Red Cross’s blood business by making sure donated blood is safe and recalling it if there is any doubt. But the newspaper reports that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found “dysfunction and disorder at the new centers.”
Support Red Cross Workers on Facebook
 |
||||
|
||||
Across the country, some 4,000 Red Cross blood workers are fighting for improved staffing to protect the safety of donors and the nation’s blood supply.
But Red Cross officials are refusing to negotiate fair contracts or any deal at all. In fact, Red Cross nurses and blood donation collection employees in 26 cities are working without a contract, some for as long as two years.
To strengthen their collective bargaiuning power, 20 Red Cross locals nationwide have come together to form the Coalition of Red Cross Workers. The group has launched a new Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/KeepBloodDrivesSafe. Support the Red Cross workers–“Like” the page and share it with your friends.
IBEW Assists Massachusetts Tornado Victims
This is a cross-post from the Electrical Workers (IBEW).
While national weather reports have focused on major flooding and violent storms in the Midwest, a series of damaging tornadoes swept across western Massachusetts on June 1.
Following the storms, workers from throughout the area jumped into action, including members of IBEW Local 2324 in Springfield, Mass., who are employed by Verizon.
Three tornadoes touched down in Hampden and Springfield counties at rush hour, killing four people and injuring hundreds more. According to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, the severe weather caused an estimated $25 million in damage to public property and more than 900 homes that were either completely destroyed or suffered major damage. President Obama approved federal relief funding for the communities.
Red Cross Workers March for Blood Donor Safety
|
Hundreds of union members rallied today in the nation’s capital to support the more than 240 striking Red Cross nurses and donor collection staff in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey. The Red Cross workers, members of Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE), an AFT affiliate, have been on strike since May 24.
AFT President Randi Weingarten told the rally at Red Cross headquarters in Washington, D.C., that the workers are striking for safety. Since 2003, the federal Food and Drug Administration has fined the national Red Cross $37 million for safety violations in its blood collection program, which generates $2 billion a year in revenue for the organization.
IWJ Issues Red Cross Blood Drive Guide with Focus on Safety, Workers’ Rights
The Red Cross has come under fire recently for its blood safety practices and unfair labor practices. Today, Interfaith Workers Justice (IWJ) issued a Congregational Guide urging congregations to hold the American Red Cross accountable for improving its blood safety practices and respecting workers’ rights.
Every year the Red Cross holds 200,000 blood drives across the country and many are hosted by faith groups. But, says IWJ Executive Director Kim Bobo:
There’s something that many faith groups may not know. We believe that the Red Cross is not honoring another important teaching and that is to treat others as we wish to be treated and that laborers deserve their just reward. While we don’t want congregations to stop holding these important blood drives we do want to empower them to hold the Red Cross accountable for the safety of the blood supply and the treatment of their workers.
The Congregational Guide for Red Cross Blood Drives highlights 10 questions to ask the Red Cross around issues of ensuring safety at blood drives, respecting the rights of its workers and addressing its longstanding compliance problems with FDA blood safety regulations. The questions cover staffing levels, certification, blood handling procedures, donor screening, working conditions and labor relations. Click here for more.
Red Cross Workers Strike over Stalled Talks, Blood Safety Concerns
 |
|
More than 1,000 Red Cross workers in seven cities launched a three-day unfair labor practice strike against the American Red Cross this morning. Contract negotiations between the Red Cross and the workers—members of several unions—have been stalled, in some cases, for more than a year.
One of the key issues, the unions say, is blood drive staffing practices that workers believe are key to protecting donor and blood safety. Workers say the Red Cross is putting donors and workers at risk by understaffing blood drives, replacing nurses with unlicensed supervisors, forcing employees to work unrealistic schedules and turning blood collection into an assembly line/fast-food process.
Red Cross Mismanagement Puts Blood Supply at Risk
 |
||||
|
||||
The federal government must step up enforcement of rules protecting the nation’s blood supply and force the Red Cross to drastically improve its blood safety practices, several groups said today.
During a press conference in Washington, D.C., this morning, leaders of the AFL-CIO, the Workers Committee for Blood Safety, the National Consumers League, the Committee of Ten Thousand and the Hemophilia Federation of America called on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to increase enforcement action with the Red Cross and ensure the safety of the nation’s blood supply.
The coalition points out that year after year, the Red Cross violates blood safety regulations and exposes the public to potentially dangerous blood products that could put blood recipients at risk for HIV, hepatitis, syphilis, malaria and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Red Cross Cost-Cutting Endangers Blood Supply, Workers, Donors
|
||||
|
||||
Millions of Americans contribute blood and money to the Red Cross with the belief that the organization is well run and the blood supply is protected. But a new Jobs with Justice report raises serious concerns about donor safety and the security of the nation’s blood supply.
During a Jobs with Justice telephone press conference yesterday, Mary McDougal, who has worked for a decade at the Red Cross in Buffalo, N.Y., said the Red Cross must improve the way it treats workers and donors.
Red Cross headquarters in Washington, D.C., thinks it can run a blood drive like you run a McDonald’s. [They need to] hire the right people, give them proper training and listen to us.
The Missouri Jobs with Justice Workers’ Rights Board released the report, “Labor Relations at the American Red Cross and Its Impact on Employee and Donor Safety,” after hearing from front-line Red Cross workers across the country. The investigative report outlines practices that jeopardize blood donors’ safety and the integrity of the blood supply, including long work hours that lead to fatigue and mistakes; sharp pay cuts that cause dramatic increases in employee turnover and hiring non-qualified workers instead of certified nurses.
Red Cross Workers Fight for Safe Blood, Fair Contract
|
|
 |
At the American Red Cross headquarters in Farmington, Conn., the 225 AFSCME Local 3145 members—front-line blood services workers who make sure the blood supply is safe and sound—have been working without a contract since April.
Around the country, several bargaining units are in the same situation. They say the Red Cross is seeking to replace nurses with unlicensed supervisors, force employees to work unrealistic schedules, make workers bear the increased costs of an inferior health care plan and turn blood collection into an assembly line process.
AFSCME Local 3145 is part of a national coalition of unionized Red Cross workers who have united to improve working conditions, along with donor and blood safety supply at the Red Cross.
In Farmington, the nurses, laboratory technicians, phlebotomists, drivers and other workers are engaged in a campaign raising public awareness about how Red Cross puts profits ahead of safety. Says Local 3145 President Debra Lenentine:
The Red Cross is all about big money and bigger profits at the expense of donors and workers.
