National Nurses United

NEWS BRIEFS Orlando Health RNs show the real meaning of union FLORIDA s unionized nurses, it's sometimes easy to forget that the true meaning of "union" is not based on an election or a contract, but on what people can achieve by working and acting together. The nurses of Orlando Health, a system of eight hospitals in central Florida, are now demonstrating that true meaning through their collective efforts to fight their employer's plan to cut thousands of employees' night shift differentials—even though they don't formally have a union and are not covered by a collective bargaining contract. Elimination of the night shift differential, announced by the hospital Aug. 5, means some workers would lose up to $10,000 in pay each year, and some households with both spouses working at Orlando Health would lose up to $20,000. "We thought, 'What do we have to lose at this point?'" said Sarah Lasher, a level 3 neonatal intensive care unit RN who works night shift at the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies. She noted that one couple might have to file for bankruptcy due to the differential cut, and that patient care will suffer because experienced RNs and those who see no incentive to work nights are leaving. "Many of us worked so hard. Is this how we get thanked for all our hard work and dedication? We have to fight." Lasher started calling the media. Sarah Collins, a level 2 NICU RN also on night shift at Winnie Palmer, was having the same thoughts. "You plan your life around your income, and they are just taking it away," said Collins. "It wasn't right. It wasn't fair." Within a week of the announcement, Collins was inspired to create and start circulating an online petition protesting the A 8 N AT I O N A L N U R S E cuts. Collins also started calling the media. The two NICU RNs soon linked up with more coworkers, as well as National Nurses United organizers, willing to fight back against Orlando Health, and their campaign soon exploded with activity. Local television stations and newspapers covered their issues extensively, and the petition ultimately gathered more than 5,000 signatures. Nurses have been successful in twice delaying elimination of the night shift differential as well as prompting the ouster of the former CEO, Sherrie Sitarik. Though the hospital is still implementing the differential cut (half went into effect in early October with the other half to come in January), nurses are more determined than ever to roll them back and have set their sights on the larger goal of winning a formal union. They want to have a voice in their workplace and to have their working conditions, standards, and rights officially protected by a collective bargaining contract. "After they announced the cut, I think I called every labor attorney in Orlando," W W W. N AT I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G remembered Lasher. "I kept asking, 'They can't do that, right?' And every one asked, 'Do you have a contract?' Well, no. Then every response was, 'Yes, they can.'" Lasher, who hails from a big union family, knew it was high time to start organizing a union. The unity of Orlando nurses is already making a big difference in the level of protection RNs experience on the job. In October, when interim CEO Jamal Hakeem and CNO Anne Peach suddenly interrupted Collins one day while she was on shift and taking care of a baby in order to grill her about her union involvement, a series of text messages and Facebook posts by her coworkers drew more than 20 RNs, respiratory therapists, and doctors down to the unit to show management they were watching and wouldn't tolerate their harassment. "I was glad that management saw that if they mess with me or anyone else, that all these people will show up," said Collins. "It's brought a lot of people together. This is the support system we've created through this movement." —Staff report O C TO B E R 2 01 3

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