National Nurses United

A P R I L | M AY | J U N E 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 7 FLORIDA R egistered nurses at Palmetto General Hospital and Florida Medical Center won similar three-year contracts in February that will improve their ability to provide optimal patient care by strengthening the union and attracting and retaining experi- enced nurses. "With the ratification of our contract, nurses now have a contract that will improve our ability to advocate for our patients, and improve our ability to recruit and retain qualified nurses," said Chrystel Willis, RN and chief nurse representative at Florida Medical Center, where the contract will cover about 280 nurses. The contract at Palmetto covers about 550 nurses. Nurses won important improvements to staffing, such as staff nurses taking sched- uling priority over travel nurses and nurses no longer being called off or cancelled if it makes the hospital out of compliance with the staffing grids or negatively impacts patient care. The hospital also agreed to expanded access to the union for new nurses orienta- tion and access to the facility, and expanded Weingarten rights to have a representative when nurses may be pulled into a discipli- nary meeting. On economics, nurses won a 7 percent increase over the three years of the con- tract, increases to the wage steps (the average nurse will receive a 12.6 percent increase over the term of the contracts), increase differentials for nurses taking on night shifts, relief charge, or preceptor work, and a stop to shifting of insurance costs onto the nurses. —Staff report Nurses at two Tenet hospitals win new contracts to escape political oppression or unrest in the Philippines," said Tayag. Cortez also appears in the film. In it, she travels to the Philippines to champion global solidarity between NNU and its international counterpart, Global Nurses United (GNU). GNU was founded by NNU and has member unions in 29 countries, including Filipino Nurses United. "Speaking to nurses in the Philippines, and here, is just so gratifying. I feel that this is my mission: to inspire nurses coming up and encourage them to always fight for what's right, fight for their patients," Cortez says. Rodriguez was thrilled to help premiere the film she calls, "powerful." "The more stories we hear from Asian- American nurses, the better. This is exactly what we were hoping for with this collaboration." Film director Marissa Aroy, who lives near Dublin, Ireland, was unable to attend the event, but said by phone, "Directing the film was a profound experience for me. My mother is a nurse, so the stories I heard had a big impact. As a Filipina myself, I am painfully aware of discrimination, but we don't see enough about discrimination against Filipino Americans in the media. What I love is that this story ends with activism. These are memorable nurses." The film was well received, with many attendees wanting more. "This was terrific. I wanted the film to be longer," said one community activist. "There aren't enough films celebrating Filipino activism out there." RN Bonnie Castillo, who became CNA/ NNU executive director two years ago, immediately recognized the need when she commissioned the film. "It was time to honor this amazing group of nurses," she said. "Fili - pino nurses are at the front of our movement, and also at the heart of it. I knew we were filling a void when we produced the film." "Ultimately, it's about solidarity," said Castillo. "When we understand and appreciate each other, our solidarity becomes even stronger." During COVID-19, CNA/NNU held the world Facebook premiere of The Strength of Many online. Go to https://www.facebook.com/ nationalnurses/videos/743045899836992/ For more information about the Carlos Bulosan Center, please visit its website at: https://bulosancenter.ucdavis.edu/ —Erin FitzGerald

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