National Nurses United

12 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 A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y | M A R C H 2 0 2 3 WRAP-UP REPORT Kansas ASCENSION VIA CHRISTI ST. FRANCIS AND ST. JOSEPH union nurses in Wichita, Kan., held a rally in February to celebrate Ascension Via Christi St. Francis RNs beginning negotia- tions on their first contract. St. Francis nurses were joined by their union siblings from Wichita's Ascension Via Christi St. Joseph hospital, where registered nurses had recently filed their own union petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). "This is a historic day for Wichita, both for us as nurses and for the entire community," said Shelly Rader, RN in the emergency department at Ascension Via Christi St. Fran- cis. "We're rallying to show management we're excited about a contract that empowers us to give our patients the best care possible, espe- cially through addressing the staffing crisis at our facility. The people of Wichita deserve nothing less, and that's why we unionized." St. Francis became the largest Wichita hospital and first private-sector hospital in the city to unionize when nurses there voted by a nearly 2-to-1 margin to join National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC). Now, St. Joseph nurses are seeking to join them, having filed a petition for union rep- resentation with the NLRB. If successful, NNOC/NNU will represent a total of nearly 1,000 Wichita-area nurses at these two Ascension facilities. "We're rallying to cheer the St. Francis nurses on, and we can't wait to win our elec- tion and get to the bargaining table ourselves," said Whitney Steinike, RN in the adolescent psychiatric unit at Ascension Via Christi St. Joseph. "It's the dawn of a new era for health care in Wichita." "NNU nurses nationwide know that a strong contract is a key piece of our fight for better patient care, especially when it comes to staffing," said NNU President Deborah Burger, RN. "We're so excited to see nurses organizing and fighting for strong contracts all over the country, and Wichita nurses are part of a union committed to taking on cor- porate health care for the sake of our communities' health." Both Wichita facilities are owned by Ascension, one of the largest not-for-profit and Catholic hospital chains in the nation. More than 900 nurses at Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin in Texas, which is owned by the same company, also joined NNU in a historic vote last year and began bargaining their first contract in November. NNOC/NNU represents more than 650 nurses at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis and will represent 300 nurses at Ascension Via Christi St. Joseph pending their NLRB election. New York BUFFALO VA MEDICAL CENTER registered nurses at Buffalo VA Medical Center (VAMC) in Buffalo, N.Y. held a nurses' forum and press conference in Janu- ary to bring to the public's attention the hospital administration's grievous failure to prepare for the deadly holiday snowstorm as well as management's refusal to address the chronic staffing crisis. National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United represents more than 400 registered nurses at Buffalo VAMC. "When the deadly snowstorm hit over the holidays, nurses stepped up to provide care for our patients because we are committed to serving our veterans, but we found ourselves woefully short staffed which we know jeopard- izes care," said Nicole White, RN in the float team at VAMC and a union leader. "Manage- ment's denial of our staffing crisis and failure to prepare for the anticipated storms led to the avoidable and intolerable situation of nurses working as many as 96 hours over four days with only a few four-hour breaks to sleep. We are very proud of the veteran-centric care the VA offers and we provide, but for the sake of our patients, the administration must listen to us and act immediately." "This staffing crisis is a long-standing issue that has gone unaddressed by management, and cannot be solved by nurses alone," said Amy Clarke, RN in the community care unit at VAMC and a union leader. "The shameful neglect of our crisis has impacted nursing and our veterans. We stand here united, fighting for a better future for us, for our veterans, and for our community." —Staff Report From top: Wichita nurses rally to help Ascension Via Christi St. Francis colleagues kick off their first contract negotiations with a show of strength and solidarity; nurses working at the Buffalo VA Medical Center speak out about management's failure to prepare for snow- storm and to demand safe staffing. NEWS BRIEFS

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