National Nurses United

mask wearing, physical distancing, and ven- tilation in the workplace. Twenty-two states across the country that have state-based OSHA programs are legally required to have those state plans be at least as effective as federal OSHA. Three states, Arizona, South Carolina, and Utah, failed to implement the Covid-19 ETS in their state plans, abrogating their legal requirements. After leading the campaign to win the OSHA ETS, NNU has been campaigning to ensure health care employers across the country comply. When NNU nurses in Ari- zona filed complaints about their hospitals' noncompliance, Arizona's state OSHA plan stated they will not enforce the requirements of the federal OSHA ETS. So NNU nurses testified at a meeting of the Industrial Commission of Arizona. The ICA voted against emergency rulemaking needed to protect nurses and other health care workers, and on Oct. 1, NNU filed a Complaint About State Plan Administra- tion with federal OSHA. In mid-October, federal OSHA announced that it was reconsidering and potentially revoking the final approval for these three noncompli- ant states. "Nurses and other health care workers in Arizona, Utah, and South Carolina must be assured the same protections as they would receive in other states that have already adopted and begun enforcing the ETS," said NNU President Deborah Burger, RN. "It's unconscionable that some states think they can just ignore their responsibility to protect health care workers. They have the duty, legally and morally, to come into compliance and protect workers. They did not, and we could not be more proud that OSHA is standing up to hold them accountable." On Dec. 8, NNU launched a petition to urge OSHA to adopt a permanent OSHA standard on Covid-19 in health care work- places to ensure that there is no lapse in protection. The petition also encourages OSHA to "work expediently to issue a sepa- rate, broader standard to protect all workers from workplace exposure to aerosol trans- missible diseases," because such a standard is "essential to prepare for future pandemics and protect the health of all workers." To sign the petition, go to nnu.org/ ProtectHealthCareWorkers. —Chuleenan Svetvilas ILLINOIS R egistered nurses at Commu- nity First Medical Center in Chicago were proud to ratify their first union contract at the end of October, less than a week after they announced they had reached a tentative agreement. The ratification of the two-year con- tract, with strong protections for patients and nurses, came just days after registered nurses issued a strike notice. The planned three-day strike was averted. "We are absolutely thrilled to have reached this agreement, and we know that it will help us recruit and retain experi- enced nurses," said Kathy Haff, a registered nurse in the emergency depart- ment. "This was a long fight. We are so proud of how all the nurses came together to win so many important protections that will help us provide the safe patient care people in our community deserve." Under the new contract, nurses will receive wage increases averaging 17 per- cent over the term of the contract. To address economic justice issues, this con- tract moves all RNs to a pay scale based on the number of years of nursing experience. Contract highlights include health and safety provisions to ensure personal pro- tective equipment when caring for confirmed and suspected Covid-19 patients and the creation of nurse-run committees to strengthen advocacy for patients and to address staffing, workplace safety, and other issues impacting safe patient care conditions. The agreement includes restrictions to prevent nurses from being floated to units where they lack the training or clinical expertise to care for the patients. The ratified pact also includes expanded tuition reimbursement and paid education leave for nurses and the hospi- tal's agreement to invest more in security, supplies, and equipment. Nurses say these highlights and other important contract features will have a long-lasting, positive impact on the com- munity. "Providing high-quality care for our patients throughout this pandemic has been incredibly challenging," said Patricia Ryan, RN. "The new contract, with its emphasis on safety protections and the creation of a pathway for continued dia- logue between nurses and management, will go a long way toward improving the care we can give our patients and our abil- ity to attract and retain experienced nurses." The RNs had voted by a margin of more than 90 percent to join National Nurses Organizing Committee in December 2019. —Rachel Berger Huge win for Chicago nurses RNs at Community First ratify first contract O C T O B E R | N O V E M B E R | D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 1 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

• Cover