National Nurses United

NewsBriefs_OCT 12/27/11 2:26 PM Page 6 NEWS BRIEFS members educated audience members about taxing Wall Street financial transactions to create an economy that works for the 99 percent. Questions and stories from those who couldn't attend were read and recorded. And it all got covered in local newspapers and by radio and TV. MNA followed up with guest commentaries about the financial transaction tax in the Detroit Free Press, the Lansing State Journal (Lansing is the state capital), and Camp's hometown newspaper. "Calling out Camp and Upton for being in Wall Street's pocket was the perfect way to bring our Main Street Contract campaign to life in Michigan," said MNA Executive Director John Karebian. "Targeting our supercommittee members creatively raised MNA's profile and showed the public that nurses are leaders in advocating for their communities. We're sending the message loud and clear that working men and women are taking our country back." —Ann Kettering Sincox Michigan RNs put Wall Street Politicians in Hot Seat R MICHIGAN epublican Congressmen Dave Camp and Fred Upton are two of the worst (or best) examples of politicians betraying Main Street by hiding in Wall Street's pocket—and the Michigan Nurses Association recently called them out on it. Big time. Already carrying a combined personal wealth of $23 million, these career politicians used their positions on the deficit supercommittee to ramp up campaign donations from industries like finance, pharmaceuticals, and insurance. Meanwhile, their state remains among the hardest hit by Wall Street's greed, with unemployment in the double digits, a high foreclosure rate, and rising poverty. Michigan nurses stepped up their Main Street Contract for the American People campaign this fall by publicly pressuring Camp and Upton to support the financial transaction tax, pivoting off the politicians' refusal to hold town halls for ordinary residents. The nurses made Camp a special target because, as chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, he has power over tax policy. Rather than tax Wall Street, though, he's seeking even more breaks for the corporations that profit at Main Street's expense. MNA put the heat on Camp and Upton in various ways, including a protest outside Camp's office, an online campaign to "Occupy Dave Camp's Facebook page," and the sustained use of press releases, blog posts, social media, and the fightformainstreet.org website. Then MNA really stirred things up. Nurses took out billboards and radio ads declaring Camp and Upton missing; the cop 6 N AT I O N A L N U R S E in the radio ad says they were "last seen slipping into Wall Street's pocket." The eye-catching billboards pointed out how much the men had taken from Wall Street with how many town halls they'd held to listen to Main Street: zero. Finally, when Camp and Upton still refused to face their constituents, MNA hosted citizen town halls in their districts. Constituents vented their anger and frustration at an empty chair that symbolized their bought-and-sold Congressmen. MNA HealthEast Nurses Fight for First Contract MINNESOTA M innesota nurses with HealthEast Care System won an election a year and a half ago, but remain at the table fighting for a first contract as management stalls the negotiating process. HealthEast nurses, joined by colleagues throughout the Twin Cities eastern metro region, rallied on Oct. 20 and again on Nov. 1 outside their base facility on University Avenue to show management their solidarity and put some pressure on their employer. "It's taking weeks and weeks to even get a negotiation date planned from management," said negotiating team member Kelly Rogalsky, RN. "We're looking for some honest negotiation at the table. We just want to bargain a fair contract that gives us a level 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 playing ground in our career." RN Beth Natonon expressed her concern about unsafe staffing and the constant barrage by management to try to fill schedule holes. "We're constantly called on our day off to do something related to home care," said Natonon. RN Gail Will echoed the sentiment and talked about unsafe workloads during a shift. "I want safer care for my patients. Nurses working full time don't get to choose how many patients they have." —Jan Rabbers NOVEMBER 2011

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