National Nurses United

ILLINOIS O n dec. 12, registered nurses at Community First Medical Center (CFMC) in Chicago voted over- whelmingly to join National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU). Nurses at CFMC voted by a margin of more than 90 percent to join NNOC, the latest in a groundswell of wins for the union over the past 13 months, during which RNs at UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial as well as hundreds of additional nurses at the University of Chicago Medical Center voted to unionize. With this vote, NNOC will have unionized nearly 1,100 nurses in the greater Chicago area over this period. NNOC will represent some 320 RNs at the hospital. "Joining the union means that we will now have a real voice in patient care decisions," said Kathy Haff, a registered nurse who has worked in the emergency department at CFMC for 27 years. "We can be better advo- cates for our patients and make sure we have a say when policies are implemented." "We're so excited to be a part of NNOC and NNU," said Sue Patacek, an RN who has worked at CFMC for 33 years and is a member of the organizing team. "Now we will have a seat at the table and be able to effectively advocate for safe staffing and ensure high-quality patient care. A key issue for the RNs in voting to join NNOC was the desire for a stronger collective voice on patient care issues, especially in improving safe staffing and ensuring that nurses have adequate medical supplies to care for patients. The nurses are also seeking consistent break coverage, fair and competi- tive pay, improved health benefits, and an end to unsafe floating. All these steps will enhance retention and recruitment of RNs and guar- antee quality patient care, say nurses. The next step is for the RNs to elect a team of their colleagues to represent them in talks for their first collective bargaining agreement with hospital management. —Chuleenan Svetvilas J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y | M A R C H 2 0 2 0 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 N A T I O N A L N U R S E 5 Community First RNs vote to unionize MISSOURI R egistered nurses at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital (SLUH) overwhelmingly ratified a new contract in December with protections to improve patient safety. "Despite Missouri repealing laws and regulations on patient rights and staffing, we were able to secure in our contract RN- led staffing committees that can hold management accountable to its staffing plans," said Sarah DeWilde, an RN who has worked for six years in the intensive care unit at SLUH. "We also won language that affirms our rights as our patients' advocates in the facility and which allows us to speak up when management is not acting in the best interests of our patients." The three-and-a-half-year agreement covers more than 700 nurses, who had voted to strike less than a week before the contract was ratified. "Through our strike vote, we won increases that will help us retain and recruit nurses who will fill the positions we need to give the safe standards of care our patients deserve," said Earline Shepherd, an emer- gency room nurse at SLUH. Key contract highlights include new advocacy language, the staffing committee to protect patients, employer-paid short- term disability and maternity leave, across-the-board pay increases of 8 to 31 percent, with a 19 percent median increase over the term of the contract, with additional wage step increases. Previ- ous wages had been 10 percent below market. The contract also retains health benefits, with no takeaways. —Chuleenan Svetvilas St. Louis RNs win new contract

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