Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/197988
NewsBriefs.REV_April 6/24/10 2:38 PM Page 8 NEWS BRIEFS VA Nurses Fight for Bargaining Rights NATIONAL oes it make sense that nurses at the Department of Defense are able to bargain collectively over the conditions of their employment but RNs at the Department of Veterans Affairs are forbidden from doing so? VA nurses don't think so. Yet that's exactly what the situation has been over the past several years, thanks to a quirk in the statutes that govern the VA system. Now, National Nurses United is campaigning for passage of bills in Congress that would restore collective bargaining rights for the thousands of registered nurses who care for the nation's veterans. While nursing assistants, cleaning staff and food service workers at the VA have the legal right to bargain collectively over most issues, registered nurses fall under a different section of the U.S. Code, known as Title 38. Title 38 bars professional employees from bargaining over any issue related to competence, peer review or compensation. Over the years, nurses say, the Department of Veterans Affairs has often sought to tie D 8 N AT I O N A L N U R S E just about any concern nurses raised to one of these loosely-defined areas—leaving nurses with little recourse to resolve conflicts, even though they are represented by a union affiliated with NNU, the National Veterans Affairs Council. "Our goal is to have an even playing field," said Council president Alice Staggs, RN. "We cannot have a policy regarding collective bargaining rights for nurses that relies on individual relationships or the whim of who is in office at any particular time as we do now. We must fix this with legislation." The NNU legislation—S. 362 in the Senate and H.R. 949 in the House—is also supported by the Disabled American Veterans, the Paralyzed Veterans of America, and the Vietnam Veterans of America. VA nurses cite numerous problems that they have been unable to resolve with management under the current law. Irma Westmoreland, RN, vice president of the Council, relays the story of a group of VA nurses who during the recent H1N1 flu outbreak volunteered to work extra shifts, including weekends, in order to vaccinate high-risk patients. At least one nurse did not receive any overtime for the shifts, Westmoreland said. 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 "Her contract clearly stated that she was to be paid premium pay for those overtime hours," said Westmoreland. "However, in addition to never receiving the compensation she was entitled to, she was told that she could also not file a grievance through her union for that overtime pay, because of the exemptions in [the statute]." In another example of the law's capriciousness, a Navy facility and a VA facility in Chicago are merging. Nurses employed by the Department of Defense and those working for the VA will be practicing side by side, providing the same patient care. Yet the DOD nurses will have full bargaining rights while the rights of the VA nurses will be severely limited. During NNU's National Nurses Week events earlier this month, VA nurses spread themselves throughout the Congressional office buildings in Washington, DC, taking their case for the collective bargaining rights legislation directly to their members of Congress. Four new co-sponsors were added to the bills following the nurses' visits. At the same time, NNU nurses throughout the country participated in a national call-in day to support the legislation. "It was truly awe-inspiring to be part of this event," said Rhonda Risner Hanos, a VA nurse from Dayton, Ohio who participated in the NNU lobby day. "Watch out Washington: We will hold you accountable for the decisions that are being made." —Donna Smith M AY 2 0 1 0