National Nurses United

NewsBriefs_June REV 2 6/30/11 12:44 PM Page 6 NEWS BRIEFS (Continued from page 5) creation, healthcare, education, and other social infrastructure programs. Many labor organizations and progressive groups are supporting NNU RNs in fighting for a Main Street Contract. "It takes nurses who truly care about quality care to raise a stink about staffing decisions, so patients don't have to suffer. And it takes nurses who truly care about a fair shake for Main Street to raise a stink about the Wall Street agenda, so working Americans don't have to suffer!" said Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, in encouragement to the nurses during his speech at the conference. The Staff Nurse Assembly culminated for the nurses in a spirited protest they staged in front of the offices of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the lobbying arm of America's corporations and big business, and then another rally at Upper Senate Park. They chanted, "Hey Chamber, you can't hide. We can see your greedy side." They carried "invoices" to bill the Chamber and Wall Street for the damage done to their lives and communities. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a champion of single-payer healthcare, and Sen. Barbara Boxer, who has introduced national RN-to-patient ratio legislation on behalf of NNU, addressed the crowd of almost 1,000 nurses. Many of the RNs then broke off into groups organized by their home state to pay legislative visits to their federal elected officials. They asked for their representatives' support of the Main Street Contract and lobbied their positions on other pending bills affecting nurses and patients. RNs reported feeling recharged by networking with other RNs, celebrating NNU's successes this past year, learning about national issues nurses are facing, and participating in the street actions. "I'm really enjoying meeting nurses from a variety of different parts of the country," said Naomi English, an RN from Minnesota. "I'm really enjoying learning about the Main Street Contract because I think it's the absolute right intervention at the absolute right time and I'm really proud to be a registered nurse because I think we're the perfect people to advance it." —Staff report 6 N AT I O N A L N U R S E University of Chicago RNs Defeat Concessions, Win Improvements in New Contract ILLINOIS egistered nurses at the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) in early June approved a new contract achieving the nurses' main negotiating goals of winning major improvements in patient care protections and economic and workplace standards for RNs, while at the same time rejecting all of the hospital's concessionary demands. The contract covers 1,300 UCMC RNs, who last year voted to join National Nurses United. Being a part of NNU, the nation's largest union and professional association of registered nurses, was critical to achieving the settlement, RNs say. "This agreement will make a difference in the lives of UCMC RNs and countless patients," said Talisa Hardin, an intensive care unit RN and member of the negotiating team. "We chose to be part of a powerful and effective national RN union and that decision is what made this possible." A key to the settlement was significant improvements in hospital staffing and other patient care issues, including a commitment to employ 16 new patient care support nurses positions to provide coverage so RNs can take meal and rest breaks, R 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 and to assist with admissions, discharges, and other needs. Further, the agreement establishes a new professional practice committee (PPC) of RNs, elected by their peers, to strengthen the voice of UCMC RNs in meeting with management on patient care issues and with specific timetables for management action on patient care concerns raised by the RNs.   RNs also secured a major goal in substantially limiting a much disliked mandatory scheduling policy that forces nurses to continually shift between working days and nights which studies have shown leads to performance deficits from fatigue, sleeplessness, and reduced alertness— heightening the danger of medical errors that put patients at risk.  On economic issues, the RNs will earn additional pay increases of at least 15 percent over the next three years, and secured limits on out-of-pocket costs for their healthcare benefits. Additionally, the hospital will give preference to regular UCMC RNs over agency nurses in scheduling when the hospital census is low. UCMC had sought reductions for the RNs in wage scales, tuition reimbursement, sick leave provisions, and other areas, all of which were dropped in the final settlement. —Staff report JUNE 2011

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