Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/1520619
We started negotiating our first contract as we were emerging from the height of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic. As nurses, we had all sacrificed a great deal to provide our patients with the best care we could with very little support from management. For months, Ascension ignored the deepening staffing crisis and refused to accept our proposals at the bargaining table. We decided to take our message to the public. We held two strikes that received wide community solidarity at the picket lines, and extensive press coverage exposing how Ascension puts profits over patients. We are proud of what we achieved, a contract that holds Ascension accountable for enforcing safe nurse-to-patient ratios, and a fair and transparent wage scale based on years of experience. We also won a formal process through the professional practice committee to regularly advocate on behalf of our patients and our communities." — Taylor Critendon, RN Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin, Texas " 25 WHAT ABOUT STRIKES? STRIKE FACTS A strike is the most powerful tactic used in the negotia- tion process and, when used, is done with careful preparation. In 95 percent of NNOC negotiations, RNs have won successful contracts without strikes. ONLY RNS THEMSELVES CAN DECIDE TO STRIKE NNOC organizers, representatives, or other staff do not call strikes. A strike occurs only after a majority of the represented nurses in your hospital decide to do so in a secret-ballot strike vote. HOW NNOC NURSES PROTECT PATIENTS IN THE EVENT OF A STRIKE When NNOC RNs do vote to strike, they create several mechanisms to ensure the well-being of their patients and community. X 10-Day Notice: The nurses give the hospital written notice, 10 days in advance, of their intent to strike as required by law. This is to give the hospital time to stop admitting new patients and begin the process of transferring patients who can be safely moved. X Patient Protection Task Force: We notify the employer that in the case of an emer- gency during the striking period, we will have nurses available through the Patient Protection Task Force. In case of an emergency, the task force will make a professional assessment of each situation and will, if it deems necessary, assign a nurse to the patient.