Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/1546784
10 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 U LY | A U G U S T | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 6 NEWS BRIEFS NATIONAL N urses at prime Healthcare facil- ities across the country are fired up and fed up with chronic short staffing, lack of supplies and work- ing equipment at their hospitals, and being forced to do more with less at every turn. This is why they are unionizing, picketing, and striking from California to Maine, speaking up for their patients, their communities, and themselves. They are part of a national union movement to fight for safe staffing and opti- mal patient care throughout the entire Prime Healthcare system, which bills itself as the fourth-largest for-profit hospital chain in the country. (See sidebar for more context) On June 17, registered nurses at Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago voted an overwhelming 96 percent in favor of joining National Nurses Organizing Com- mittee (NNOC), an affiliate of National Nurses United (NNU). Remarkably, just a week before their vote, nurses at the facility held a historic strike to protest the illegal firings of six coworkers who were unlaw- fully terminated for union organizing. Despite these retaliatory and unlawful tac- tics from Prime Healthcare, the hospital's owner, nurses demonstrated their clear unity and solidarity that carried them to this massive win. RNs at Olympia Fields outside Chicago likewise struck and then voted by 82 percent on Sept. 23 to join NNOC. And on Sept. 24, nurses at Central Maine Medical Center also won by 91 per- cent their union election to join NNOC. "Prime Healthcare thought they could scare us into silence," said Chris Williams, RN at Chicago's Saint Mary of Nazareth. "But now that we're part of the country's largest nurses union, our voice is louder than ever, and we're still turning the volume up. We're ready for a contract that makes sure our patients get the care they deserve, not the shortcuts Prime has been taking." On Sept. 3, Prime nurses at Saint Mary of Nazareth; West Anaheim Medical Center in Anaheim, Calif.; Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nev.; and nurse and health care workers at Shasta Regional Medical Center in Redding, Calif. went on a one-day strike to protest management's refusal to address their concerns about patient care and safe staffing. The nurses and health care workers are all in bargain- ing. Saint Mary of Nazareth RNs are negotiating for their first contract. The four strikes covering more than 2,200 nurses and health care workers followed nearly unanimous strike authorization votes. The nurses in California and Nevada are repre- sented by California Nurses Association (CNA), an affiliate of NNU. The health care workers at Shasta Regional are represented by Caregivers and Healthcare Employees Union, which is part of CNA. Nurses and health care workers at the California and Nevada hospitals have been working without a contract since last year, making recruitment and retention difficult and directly hurting patient care. They are demanding that management invest in nursing and health care staff and agree to a Prime Healthcare nurses stage national uprising Nurses from California to Maine strike and picket Prime facilities, unionize three new hospitals West Anaheim Saint Mary of Nazareth Central Maine Medical Center