National Nurses United

MASSACHUSETTS C ulminating a two-year effort to win union representation to improve patient care, registered nurses at Holy Family Hospital in Methuen, Mass. voted July 11 by 69 percent to join the Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United, the state and nation's preeminent organization of RNs. MNA will represent 357 RNs at the hospital, which is part of the Steward Health Care system. Holy Family RNs greeted the election with cheers and hugs after the vote was tallied. "We are thrilled to have achieved this victory, which is not only a victory for nurs- es, but also for our patients and the commu- nity we serve," said Ed Burke, RN, who has worked in the hospitals' pediatric unit for more than three years. The campaign gained momentum when the MNA and Steward Health Care, the new for-profit owner of the system, entered an organizing agreement in October 2010. Under the agreement, management remained neutral in the months leading up to the union election and assured a process to maintain accurate communication with employees. The MNA already represents nurses at five other Steward facilities, including more than 2,000 registered nurs- es and healthcare professionals working at Carney Hospital in Dorchester, Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Norwood Hospital, St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Brighton, and Merrimack Valley Hospital in Haverhill. "We will now have a voice in the future of this facility to ensure safer staffing levels and improved working conditions, which will mean better care for our patients, while also improving this facility's ability to recruit and retain first-rate nursing staff," said Cheryl Laorenza, RN, a nurse on the hospital's psychiatric unit for more than four years. MNA president Donna Kelly-Williams, RN praised the Holy Family RNs for unionizing. "When nurses are organized, patients are the biggest beneficiaries," said Kelly-Williams. The drive to organize the nurses began in 2009, when RNs began meeting with MNA representatives to discuss concerns about a variety of issues, including the need for improved nurse staffing ratios, improved float- ing policies, and improvements in job security. In the wake of the economic downturn and changes in the industry being driven by healthcare reform, significant numbers of non-union nurses, not only in Massachu- setts but also throughout the Northeast, are showing interest in union representation. "Non-union nurses out there are seeing the rapid consolidation of the healthcare industry with hospitals merging on nearly a weekly basis. Many hospitals looking for a quick fix to boost their bottom line have gone back to the failed strategies of the 1990s—cutting staffing levels, attempting to reduce or eliminate pay and benefits—leaving employees who are without a union with no power to do anything about it," said Julie Pinkham, RN, MNA executive director. "Then they see their counterparts who have union voice with the MNA successfully combating these changes, and in many cases, winning important patient safety protections. It is no surprise that in this environment we are seeing more nurses who want to experi- ence the power of workplace democracy." Now that the election is settled, the nurses will begin the work of forming their local committee. The nurses will elect members to their bargaining committee, and have already begun soliciting proposals from colleagues about what they would like to negotiate into their first contract. —David Schildmeier 4 N A T I O N A L N U R S E 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 J U LY | A U G U S T 2 0 1 1 Holy Family RNs Win Union Election NEWS BRIEFS NewsBriefs_JulAug 8/16/11 5:14 PM Page 4

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