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10 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 A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6 NEWS BRIEFS WRAP-UP REPORT California Registered nurses at Kindred Hospital West- minster in Westminster, Calif. in February celebrated the ratification of their first-ever contract. "This is a historic day for our community and a big victory for all the nurs- es who worked so hard to make our voices heard," said Sunita Kumar, RN. "We really feel this contract is a step in the direction of improving care for our patients at the hospi- tal." The three-year pact covers 150 RNs and features highlights including: provid- ions for safe patient handling and safe staffing; wage increases of 10 percent over three years and imple- mentation of a wage grid, rewarding and retaining longtime RNs; establishment of a professional practice committee (PPC); a prohibition against mandatory overtime; and provision for RNs to volunteer in the Registered Nurse Response Network, the volunteer RN disaster relief organization connected to NNU. Maine The Home Health Visiting Nurses, Maine State Nurses Association members, ratified in December a new contract that improved their wage scale with additional steps. Houl- ton Regional Hospital, Maine Coast Memo- rial Hospital, and Calais Regional Hospital are currently in negotiations where the main issues continue to be safe staffing and the recruitment and retention of RNs. At Eastern Maine Medical Center, RNs continue to fight for the improved staffing that was won in their most recent contract. Last July, EMMC nurses reached an agree- ment with the hospital that included staffing improvements in key nursing care areas. The agreement called for an additional 30 RNs to be hired to address staffing shortages but to date, chronic short staffing persists. On Dec. 17, nurses delivered petitions demanding that the medical center fulfill its commitments to EMHS headquarters in Brewer. "Our first commitment is to our patients and to the community that we serve," said Cokie Giles, an EMMC nurse, statewide president of MSNA, and one of the Council of Presidents for CNA/NNOC. "Our patients deserve better than to contin- ue waiting for the staffing levels they were promised over five months ago." Veterans Affairs over the last several months, registered RNs and nurse practitioners at VA facilities in Dayton, Ohio; Denver, Colo.; Washington, D.C.; and Cincinnati, Ohio have received pay increases ranging from 3 to as much as 24 percent. Though VA nurses are prohibited by federal law from directly bargaining pay increases like their colleagues in the private sector, VA nurse leaders worked hard within the system to secure increases for NNU-VA members. Based on the master VA contract, NNU can request a locality pay survey. In each of these hospitals, local NNU RN leaders Rhonda Hanos, Kenny McCall, Sadie Hughes- Young, and Betty "Beejay" Richardson Robin worked to make sure pay surveys were completed by management and advocated on behalf of RN members to ensure fair wage increases would be implemented. —Staff report From top: Nurses from Kindred Hospital Westminster in Cali- fornia recently won new contract; Eastern Maine Medical Center RNs deliver petitions to enforce safe staffing provisions of their contract