National Nurses United

NewsBriefs:2 9/2/09 4:47 PM Page 7 politics to influence establishing support for issues that addressed the needs of my country and to provide support for issues of other countries that were not too foreign to my own cultures and beliefs. Besides the workers, we met the other players. The U.S. business representatives came from companies such as Coca-Cola and Levi Strauss. The U.S. government representatives included the U.S Labor Department and a physician who specialized in occupational health. The most important initial decision is whether to arrive at a convention or a recommendation. A convention is a worldwide legally binding document that holds countries accountable for how they treat their working populations. A recommendation sets a tone and some precedent, but is not legally binding. A majority vote by two of the three participating groups of workers, government, and employers decides which type of document to develop. The international employers and international government delegates immediately voted to support the formation of an international recommendation document, not a convention. Many groups or blocks of countries designated spokespeople to represent their views. The United States government officials usually had the United Kingdom or France speak for IMEC, which stood for the Industrialized Market Economy Countries, and the Latin Americans called themselves GRULAC, which stood for the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries. We met every day from 9 a.m. to almost 10 p.m. Zenei and I were exhausted, but re warded that as frontline registered nurses, we could help formulate policy for patients across the globe. After a week of intense deliberations, we crafted a recommendation that addressed for the first time the use of standard precautions for all healthcare workers, wrote language to address the protocols of post-exposure prophylaxis of antiretrovirals for work exposures, and set a new threshold on a global level of STD/HIV treatment, prevention, and support. —kevin j. barrett, rn J U LY | A U G U S T 2 0 0 9 RNs Settle New Contracts CALIFORNIA R ns around the San Francisco Bay Area recently approved new contracts with their facilities. About 1,450 registered nurses with HCA's Good Samaritan Hospital and San Jose Regional Medical Center in San Jose, Calif. voted overwhelmingly in July to ratify a new 3-year contract that sets new standards for patient safety. "These new contracts show that even HCA, the world's largest hospital chain and one with a reputation for cutting corners on patient care, can be held to strict patient safety standards when RNs speak and bargain collectively," said Malinda Markowitz, a Good Sam RN and a member of the CNA/NNOC Council of Presidents. "RNs at HCA facilities around the country are working to organize their hospitals because they know that holding this chain to safety standards will save lives, and allow nurses to truly practice their profession." RNs were able to negotiate language that would help them comply with California's mandated safe staffing ratios, such as W W W. C A L N U R S E S . O R G guarantees that patients will be safely cared for when their RN takes a meal or rest break, and an increase in unit staffing to meet the ratios at all times. On representation and economic issues, RNs won a guarantee that the hospitals will not try to label nurses as supervisors to exclude them from the bargaining unit, as well as average 4.25 percent annual wage increases and retirement improvements. RNs from across the country also convened in Las Vegas on Aug. 24 at an HCA summit where they learned about their colleagues' efforts to build power and patient advocacy rights in the world's largest hospital chain. RNs at John Muir Medical Center's Mt. Diablo and Concord campus were happy to ratify a new 3-year contract that included no takeaways and protects the RNs' union protections. Like the HCA facilities, John Muir agreed that it would not try to classify RNs as supervisors to deny them union representation. RNs also won new language granting them leaves to work on union business or disaster relief efforts. Nurses also bargained average annual wage in creases of 4 percent. —staff report REGISTERED NURSE 7

• Cover