National Nurses United

NewsBriefs.REV_April 5/8/10 12:05 AM Page 9 Patient Care Rally Hits Home for Borgess Medical Center RNs MICHIGAN magine that you are at the negotiating table ready to start the bargaining process for your union contract. This isn't the first contract you've negotiated with this hospital. In fact, you've been represented by the Michigan Nurses Association since 1974. Over the years, you've fought hard to gain protections in the areas that affect your ability to provide safe patient care, such as floating and staffing. Now, management puts a proposal on the table that essentially strips away all of those hard-won patient and employee protections, turning them into policies that can change at management's whim. And then refuses to budge on its proposal. At all. That was the situation this spring for registered nurses at Borgess Medical Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan. So when a busload of Borgess RNs arrived at the Lansing Center for the 2010 Michigan Nurses MARCH! on March 24, they were ready to rally for safe patient care. Fresh from a recent Town Hall meeting with state Rep. Robert Jones, they had heard each other's stories about what short staffing I was doing to their units. For them, the Michigan Nurses MARCH!, a day of political advocacy at the state capital, was a chance to recharge and receive the support offered by nurses and nursing students around them. "Many of you know that we're going through a difficult time right now with our contract negotiations at Borgess," said Shawn Shuler, RN, president of the union, as he addressed over 1,000 nurses and nursing students. "We are standing together to protect our contract so that our patients are safe and nurses have a voice at Borgess. We need your support." The crowd burst into applause. Dressed in teal t-shirts stating "RNs United for Safe Patient Care," the Borgess RNs joined other RNs at the gathering in gaining knowledge regarding current legislative issues in Michigan and at the national level. Topics included a look at how nurse-to-patient ratios would save Michigan hospitals money, what the Michigan Department of Community Health is trying to do in the face of severe financial cuts, and an overview of National Nurses United. Keynote speaker and leading author on nursing issues Suzanne Gordon fired nurses up with her comments on the importance of winning safe staffing. When it comes to staffing, she said, hospitals "get away with whatever they can." "There is no special hospital sleep fairy to deal with weekends and evening staffing," she told the applauding nurses. The event culminated in a rally on the steps of the Michigan State Capitol. Chanting, dancing to music, and waving signs, the crowd roared its approval as speakers including NNU Co-president Jean Ross, RN, challenged nurses to fight for safe patient care. The Borgess nurses returned to Kalamazoo encouraged and inspired. Within weeks of the MARCH!, the Borgess RNs were holding their own rally for safe patient care outside Borgess Medical Center. With still no movement from management and now an expired contract, the nurses wanted to make sure that both the Kalamazoo community and the administration knew the issue of safe patient care was not disappearing. On April 10, over 400 nurses and supporters gathered in front of Borgess Medical Center. Signs waved and people cheered after speakers ranging from nurses to a city commissioner to labor leaders expressed their support for the nurses' issues. Cheers of "We are union! Let's stay union! MNA!" rang across the front of the hospital. The fact that Borgess Medical Center is now owned by St. Louis-based Ascension Health has dramatically influenced the current negotiations. For years, MNA has been able to bargain contracts with Borgess management that met the needs of both patients and nurses. But now, nurses say, corporate profits have taken priority over the needs of workers and patients. "I was born at Borgess," said Pat Meave, RN, a member of the negotiating team, at the April 10 rally. "My kids were born at Borgess. I've been a nurse at Borgess my entire career. I love Borgess. But that," she said, pointing at the hospital, "is no longer Borgess." —Ann Kettering Sincox N AT I O N A L N U R S E 9

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