National Nurses United

a Pennsylvania hospital in WilkesBarre; picketing at hospitals in Massillon, Ohio and Ronceverte, W. Va.; and press conferences at hospitals in Bluefield, W. Va. and Fallbrook, Calif. "CHS consistently underestimates Barstow RNs," said Mike Ziemer, an intensive care unit RN at Barstow Community Hospital in California, one of the facilities where nurses went on strike. "Their repeated unfair labor practices are symptomatic of the contemptuous attitude they have taken in bargaining since we made that democratic decision. No one wants a strike, but we had no choice but to take a stand." The California Nurses Association, National Nurses Organizing CommitteeAcross both pages clockwise from top left: CHS RNs strike in Barstow, Calif.; RNs in Watsonville, Calif.; the strike line in Barstow; Bluefield, W. Va. RNs Brenda Meadwell and Mike Adams; the picket line in Greenbrier, W. Va. DECEMBER 2013 Ohio, National Nurses Organizing Committee-West Virginia, and Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals represent the RNs. CHS, the second-largest for-profit hospital chain in the United States, has been ordered by two federal judges to stop violating nurses' representation rights. Additionally, three National Labor Relations Board judges have found widespread violations of federal labor law, including the retaliatory firing of a longtime RN. CHS is also under investigation for further violations of federal labor law for other illegal terminations, many unilateral changes in working conditions, spying on nurses, and more. In late November, the NLRB issued another complaint against Bluefield Regional Medical Center in Bluefield, W. Va., on charges of spying on nurses and other violations of RN legal rights. A hearing is set for Feb. 27 in Bluefield. "It would be hard to find an employer anywhere in the United States that has engaged in such a widespread, systemic practice of violating the rights of its employees," said CNA/NNOC Co-President Cokie Giles, RN. "In the case of CHS, their behavior shows an unconscionable disdain for patient safety as well as disrespect for registered nurses who provide the care so critical for communities where patients often have no alternatives." At multiple CHS hospitals, RNs are alarmed at what they see as serious safety violations as a result of unsafe staffing and the refusal of hospital officials to discuss how to secure protections for patients. "I 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 believe that my patients deserve to be treated in a safe environment with safe staffing," said Pat Brakefield, a senior mental health RN at Affinity Medical Center in Ohio. "This is nothing more than I would want for my own family member." Nurses have also raised concerns about reductions of patient services, including the closure of a cardiac rehabilitation unit at Fallbrook Hospital near San Diego, layoffs, and unsafe maintenance at some facilities that, among other problems, led to a sewage leak at Bluefield. At several facilities, CHS has simply refused to recognize the democratic rights of the RNs who have voted for union representation. At others, such as Watsonville Community Hospital in California, officials have rejected proposals to improve staffing and are demanding major reductions in nurses' pay and health coverage. "Since the union election, RNs have made some improvements in staffing," said Beverly Hubbard, an RN who works in the catheterization lab at Greenbrier Valley Medical Center in West Virginia. "However, there is still a lot of work to be done, and CHS refuses to respect nurses and bargain with us. So we will be letting the community know about the patient care conditions at the hospital." Over the past five years, Tennessee-based CHS reported more than $1.5 billion in profits to the Securities and Exchange Commission. CHS CEO Wayne Smith raked in $21.5 million in total compensation in 2011, according to the AFL-CIO Executive Pay Watch project. —Staff report N AT I O N A L N U R S E 5

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