National Nurses United

MASSACHUSETTS N urses at Baystate Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice (BVNAH) filed a class action suit against Baystate Health Dec. 11 in Hampden Superior Court, seeking to recover unpaid wages and over- time that has been illegally withheld by the employer for several years. The nurses are routinely required to make preparations before their first home care visits for the day and also to complete lengthy docu- mentation of their visits, but are frequently not paid for that work, which can sometimes take several hours per day. Computerized documentation has become more lengthy and cumbersome in recent years, but no accom- modation has been made to allow nurses time to complete the required documentation during the normal course of the workday. As a result, nurses have been forced to work many hours of unpaid time each week. Attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan, who is representing the nurses, said, "It is a basic principle that employers must pay employ- ees for all the hours they have worked. These nurses work long hours caring for their patients, and then after hours, they must complete lengthy paperwork. It is appalling that Baystate would think it can get away without paying them for this time." Baystate has been locked in a two-year dispute with its nurses at Baystate Franklin Medical Center regarding its demand to limit those nurses' right to overtime pay, while at the same time the organization has been fail- ing to pay its visiting and hospice nurses for their hours of work. Baystate Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice is a wholly owned subsidiary of Baystate Health. While illegally withholding wages from the nurses, Baystate Health is one of the most profitable health- care conglomerates in the state and its CEO Mark Tolosky is one of the highest-paid hospital executives in New England with a salary and benefits package of nearly $2 million annually. —David Schildmeier J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 4 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 N A T I O N A L N U R S E 5 Baystate visiting and hospice RNs sue for pay CALIFORNIA R esisting a heavy-handed pres- sure campaign by their employer and frontline managers, registered nurses at California Pacific Medical Center's Pacific campus, Sutter Health's largest hospital in San Francisco, voted in mid December to join the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United. The final count, in a secret ballot, mail campaign held by the National Labor Rela- tions Board, was 351 for CNA to 321 for Sutter, a 52 percent margin. Though 42 challenged ballots remain outstanding, CNA said it was confident the nurses, and their desire for a collective voice for their patients and colleagues, would prevail. "We are thrilled that we won by 30 votes despite management's nasty campaign," said CPMC Pacific RN Amit Shaham. "We have built an incredible network of RNs for our hospital and we now belong to the most powerful and largest RN organization. RNs will now be able to ensure quality patient care is provided at our hospital." A clear majority of nurses voted for CNA representation despite intensive pressure and intimidation by hospital managers in manda- tory group meetings and one-on-one meet- ings with department supervisors that RNs say violates the letter and spirit of a free and democratic election. Management's campaign featured a series of illegal actions that resulted in the filing of unfair labor prac- tice charges against the hospital, charges that have been found meritorious by the NLRB. "Sutter is going more corporate and we needed this to make sure our hospital does not just become a profit generator," said Alden Allarde, CPMC Pacific RN. "We wanted to have a voice so that we can improve patient care and make sure the interest of the patients, community, and RNs are represented." With this election, CNA extends its role as the voice of Sutter RNs. The vote by CPMC RNs unites them with RNs at two other California Pacific facilities, CPMC Cali- fornia campus and St. Luke's hospital—both of which are already represented by CNA. All told, CNA will now represent more than 1,600 RNs at the three hospitals. Systemwide, nearly 8,000 RNs at 14 Sutter hospitals will be CNA members with this vote. "The election is now over," said CNA co- president Zenei Cortez, RN. "We salute the courage and determination of California Pacific RNs to work together to be able to more effectively advocate for their patients, and work with their CPMC colleagues to improve standards for all Sutter nurses. California Pacific and Sutter executives should respect the democratic decision of the Pacific nurses to be part of the CNA family, and work with us on a fair first contract that is in the best interests of CPMC patients, nurses, and the San Fran- cisco community." —Staff report San Francisco Sutter RNs overcome union busting to join CNA

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