National Nurses United

6 N A T I O N A L N U R S E W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G J U LY | A U G U S T | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 8 ILLINOIS A fter 14 months of bargaining, registered nurses with the Cook County Health and Hospitals System, one of the largest public health care systems in the United States, rati- fied in July a new three-year contract cover- ing some 1,300 nurses that not only fought off takeaways and maintained all working condition and economic standards, but also achieved language that gives them significant gains in patient care and bolsters their union power and rights as nurses. By staying unified, marching on manage- ment, petitioning the county, testifying at board meetings, and lobbying elected officials, nurses were able to secure this agreement even on the eve of the Janus v. AFSCME U.S. Supreme Court decision, a major attack on the rights and unity of public-sector union employees. "Consensus and solidarity were significant components in obtaining our current contract," said Rochelle Lowe, a neonatal intensive care unit RN and bargaining team member. The contract includes many improve- ments, including provisions that protect the right of registered nurses to be classified not as "managers" but remain as collective bargaining-eligible members; provide for new arbitration of staffing disputes; require new workplace violence prevention measur- ers; establish a new staffing committee to assess and made recommendations for changes; offer across-the-board raises and step increases; and a host of other gains. "During our contract campaign, we fought for the implementation of 12-hour shifts in my division, medical-surgical, at Stroger Hospital," said Elizabeth Lalasz, RN and bargaining team member. "We won through building strong collective actions, which increasingly pressured our hospital management to not only agree to our demands, but also agree to allow nurses to maintain their shift preference (whether 12- hour or 8-hour) and maintain full-time bene- fits. This was a real victory for us!" With this contract, Cook County nurses have set the highest contract standards among the county's unions, and will be well positioned to advocate for new revenues, not cuts, as part of the county's next budgetary cycle. —Staff report NEWS BRIEFS NATIONAL D epartment of Veterans Affairs (VA) registered nurses represent- ed by National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses Unit- ed (NNOC/NNU) voted in September by a 99 percent margin to ratify a new three-year contract. The contract, covering more than 11,000 registered nurses at 23 hospitals, features workplace violence protections, infectious disease training, and emergency preparedness information for nurses. "I am very excited about the workplace safety provisions that will improve the safety of our nurses and protect them from violence and injury," said Irma Westmore- land, RN and board member of NNOC/NNU. "Registered nurses have the right to work in an environment free of inappropriate behavior such as intimida- tion, harassment, and bullying, whether from employees, patients, or visitors. Thanks to this contract, if an RN is physical- ly assaulted, the VA will move to prevent further assaults. Furthermore, the VA has vowed to put workplace violence protection plans in place immediately." Other highlights of the contract will help retain and recruit high-quality nurses to the VA, such as provisions to allow nurses to discuss health and safety concerns regarding the safety, functionality, and quality of equipment, and the ability to use their accrued vacation time in a timely manner. "This will certainly go a long way in keep- ing experienced nurses in the VA, as well as recruiting well-trained nurses," said Kenny McCall, RN, bargaining team member and a 20-year Air Force veteran. The contract agreement comes as NNOC/NNU and other union workers join with veterans to keep corporate interests from privatizing the VA and to stop the attacks on unions. In June, President Trump signed into law the MISSION Act, which bolsters the ongo- ing effort by some in government to push veterans out of the VA health system and into the private sector. Some of those moneyed interests were unveiled publicly in August, when ProPublica reported on the "Mar-a-Lago council," a group of wealthy businessmen who were helping the Trump Administration shape VA policy. Earlier this summer, the president issued a set of executive orders that sought to strip federal employees of their hard-won union rights, a move later overturned in court. "I am very proud that our bargaining team was able to secure this contract," said McCall. "Nurses need to feel that they are supported and their rights respected in order to be best suited to advocate for our patients." The NNOC/NNU ratified contract is now before the secretary of Veterans Affairs. The secretary has 30 days to approve the contract. The secretary is only allowed to disapprove the contract if it violates the law. —Rachel Berger VA nurses win new contract Chi-Town nurses set the bar for public union contract Hold the line, win improvements in 2018 bargaining

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