National Nurses United

MASSACHUSETTS P art of a nationwide protest against Hyatt, more than 250 union members, community supporters, and dozens of Massa- chusetts nurses marched in front of one of the giant hotel corporation's Boston hotels in a powerful demonstration that highlighted the two-year struggle of 100 housekeepers, whose firings sparked an ongoing national protest and a boycott. The protest culminated with an act of civil disobedience, when 35 protesters, including five members of the Massachu- setts Nurses Association/NNU (NNU Co- President Karen Higgins, RN and MNA Executive Director Julie Pinkham, RN among them), were arrested after staging a sit-in at the front entrance to the hotel. MNA President Donna Kelly-Williams, RN explained why nurses joined the demonstra- tion. "We are here because what happened to Massachusetts Nurse Leaders Arrested Defending Workers' Rights 6 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 MINNESOTA A sea of red swept across the streets outside Fairview-owned Range Regional Health Servic- es (RRHS) in northeastern Minnesota as nurses were joined by hundreds of supporters to conduct a three-day strike for patient safety from July 11 to 14. For many of the 150 RRHS nurses on strike, the most compelling scene from those 72 hours was the visible outpouring of solidarity from community members, politicians and unions from all across the state. "I feel honored that we have all this support," said Mary Zahorsky, RN. "We've got people coming from the fire department, the Teamsters, members of electrical unions. I'm really recognizing that unions are united throughout the country. I love that our RNs have all stuck together to try and move ahead with this." "We're here fighting for our patients and our families and our community," said Amy Strukel, RN. "It's empowering to see how many people are standing behind us. The honks, the hoots, the hollers. People have been dropping things off for us, patting us on the back, telling us stories. The community support has been outstanding. It's really empower- ing to know the strength we have in this community." Hibbing RN Bruce Berg, who lives a few blocks from the RRHS campus, said that even when he left the picket line, he could hear constant honking and chanting from inside his home—day and night. "We're standing together, unified, with one voice," he said, gesturing at the raucous picket line nearby. "It really makes me feel good." Melissa Estey, RN, said nurses working inside the hospital leading up to the strike also had reason to feel good as they walked outside the building and onto the picket line during the morning of July 11. "I worked that morning, so I was part of the group that walked off when the strike began," she said. "And our physicians wanted to wear our MNA t-shirts in support of us. The hospital administration says different things to the public, that we're being greedy or unneces- sary. But our physicians who work next to us and talk to us every day are supporting us, and that should speak more to the public than anything the administration says. If the physi- cians didn't agree with us they wouldn't be supporting us. They see what we do on the floor every day. Our physicians care about us and they know what we are going through." As she spoke, Estey had to raise her voice to be heard over the constant honking, cheering, and chanting taking place on the sidewalk nearby. "The support here has been amazing," she said, then paused to turn and thank the latest stream of well-wishers driving by with horns honking and hands waving. As the nurses prepared to return to work, RN April Klander, bargaining unit chair, rallied them by reemphasizing their focus— safe staffing—and to stay unified. "This is about our concern for staffing," said Klander. "Talk to each other. Stand with each other, because the hardest thing to do is stand alone. We're not standing alone anymore. We need to stand together. And if there are any other issues that do come up, don't take it alone. Support each other when we go back in, give the hometown care we're used to giving, so our patients know we're back." —Jan Rabbers Range Regional RNs Strike Over Staffing NEWS BRIEFS NewsBriefs_JulAug 8/16/11 5:14 PM Page 6

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