July 30th, 2010
Twin Cities nurses who crossed their union’s picket line during a mass walkout June 10 say they were harassed by the union after the fact through letters calling them to a disciplinary hearing.
The nurses, all from Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, say they resigned from the union before the 24-hour walkout in order to work behind the picket lines. Nonetheless, they received letters from the Minnesota Nurses Association saying they may be subject to reprimand, censure or expulsion.
The nurses filed a complaint against the MNA late Wednesday with the National Labor Relations Board. In the past, it’s been the MNA that’s filed a flurry of federal complaints against the nurses’ employers.
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July 10th, 2010
Many nurses who cast their votes Tuesday said they were relieved and pleased that they were able to preserve their health care, pensions and salaries. But some said they could not in good conscience vote for a deal that failed to provide the staffing ratios they claimed on lawn signs and at rallies were critical to patient safety.
“It’s embarrassing for me,” said one nurse who said she voted no, but declined to give her name. “That’s what I was picketing for.”
Others said the months of public bashing might have inflicted lasting damage on the relationship between nurses and their employers. Vicky Michaels, an operating room nurse at United Hospital in St. Paul, said she voted for the contract, but directed her frustration at hospital administrators, who she said “make millions and get huge pay raises.” The only bonus she’s received was for saving the life of a patient by doing CPR. It was a cookie, she said, laughing, for saving a life.
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May 21st, 2010
In what can only be described as a stunning turn of events, registered nurses at the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) have voted overwhelmingly to oust the Illinois Nurses Association in favor of representation by National Nurses United (a group headed by the California Nurses Association).
In the three choice election which culminated on May 20th, nurses voted as follows: 627 voted in favor of NNU; 335 voted in favor of INA; and, 22 voted in favor of no union. There were 6 challenged ballots. Only 79% of the 1,261 nurses eligible to vote actually cast ballots in the election.
As the results above indicate, the NNU gained almost twice as much support as the INA, which has represented UCMC nurses for over three decades.
May 8th, 2010
The 73-member International Executive Board (IEB) of the Service Employees International Union met in Washington D.C. today to elect Executive Vice President Mary Kay Henry the 10th president of the nation’s fastest-growing union.
“This moment marks a renewed commitment to our union’s core mission: to improve the lives of all workers who are struggling to make ends meet in this economy,” Henry said. ”Working people are facing hardships we haven’t seen in generations, and we believe SEIU can be an even more effective vehicle for change to help them improve their lives and the lives of the people they serve.
“We will get this done by renewing our commitment to organizing, connecting our members at the grassroots level to our political strength and restoring our relationships throughout the American labor movement – because just like I learned as a little girl in a family of twelve, we can’t go it alone. Everything is better when you can organize a group and make a decision to stand and act on behalf of all workers in this country.”
Henry is noted for working side-by-side with SEIU members – meeting with them at 3 a.m. on night shifts in hospitals, walking picket lines, leading members in contract bargaining, and helping them discover the strength they have when they stand together.
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April 14th, 2010
Andy Stern, the nation’s most politically influential union president, will announce plans this week to resign, several union officials said, in a move that surprised and shook organized labor and Democratic political circles.
His many conservative detractors hailed the departure of Mr. Stern, who as president of the Service Employees International Union has been labor’s most electrifying — and polarizing — leader.
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