Posts tagged nurses
MVH nurses speak out against unionizing efforts
June 4, 2025 // But some at Miami Valley Hospital say they are happy with the current management. Three clinical nurses from MVH reached out to 2 NEWS, saying they believe a union would cause them to lose more than they would gain. They say their fellow nurses should consider the consequences of this decision on the entire staff if union terms were negotiated.
Editorial: Pampered state workers threaten to strike (California)
June 4, 2025 // On May 17, AFSCME Local 2620’s Executive Board unanimously voted to set up a strike fund. Their website promised: “This action sends a clear message: We are serious. We are organized. And we are ready.” But the unions should listen to another clear message: Californians are tired of being taxed to the max to support a bloated, inefficient state government that only delivers low-performing schools, potholed roads and massive budget deficits. If these state government workers don’t like their working conditions, they should quit and get real jobs in the private sector with the rest of us.
Hundreds of nurses take to the picket lines at Unity Point Health – Meriter Hospital
May 30, 2025 // The five-day strike started at 6:30 a.m. on Brooks Street outside of Unity Point Health - Meriter. During a 7:30 a.m. press conference, nurses listed the demands they want met from Meriter management. Those demands include staffing solutions that prioritize nurse and patient safety, compensation to attract and retain nurses, and improved security practices at the hospital.
UnityPoint Health-Meriter RNs to strike beginning next week
May 22, 2025 // EIU Wisconsin gave the hospital a 10-day notice earlier this month that almost 1,000 nurses would join the strike. A hospital spokesperson said at the time that the strike was set to last through June 1, and that hospital leadership respected the nurses' rights. In a statement, Market Chief Nursing Officer Sherry Casali said the hospital and union have held 22 bargaining sessions since contract negotiations started in January. "We believe our most recent proposal will continue to keep Meriter nurses as some of the best-paid nurses in Wisconsin, as well as the top-paid nurses in our local community," Casali said.
Geisinger, nurses union reach contract agreement after months of negotiating
April 14, 2025 // After months of negotiating — and a five-day strike in February that caught national attention — over 800 unionized Geisinger Wyoming Valley nurses have reached a contract agreement with Geisinger executives. According to a release from SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, the contract covers nurses at Geisinger Wyoming Valley, Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre and Geisinger Healthplex CenterPoint in Pittston.
Commentary Rachel Greszler: What Trump Memo on Taxpayer-Funded Union Time Means for Federal Employee Unions
March 18, 2025 // In addition to tracking the number of employees and their time, agencies also have to report on other taxpayer-provided subsidies to unions. That would include, for example, “a single Veterans Affairs facility allocate[ing] half of a hospital wing—over 5,000 square feet—largely for the use of the union president and officials” as exposed in a report from the Institute for the American Worker. The irony of federal employees’ excessive use of official time is that they can’t even bargain for the biggest things most unions bargain over—pay and benefits. And working predominantly in offices (or, prior to Trump’s executive order requiring federal employees to return to the office, in their homes) hardly poses a need for lengthy worker safety negotiations. That leaves official time to be predominantly spent defending poor performers and bad actors that agencies have disciplined or dismissed, and negotiating over tedious things like the height of cubicle panels; designated smoking areas on otherwise smoke-free campuses; and the right to wear spandex at work.
A Connecticut school district is giving bonuses to teachers who show up for work
March 10, 2025 // The program has won such favor among teachers that in the first two quarters of the year, the district has already spent the $126,000 budgeted for the program. The incentive program started in July, the district's director of human resources said. Director of Human Resources for the district Kimberly Schulte said the Board of Education started the union-approved attendance incentive in response to teacher absenteeism. She said that because of open positions, the district's $38 million salary budget can cover the rest of incentive program this year.
Providence, nurses union reach new tentative deal in 6-week-long strike
February 26, 2025 // The strike, which started Jan. 10, is the longest in Oregon’s health care history. Nearly 5,000 nurses walked off the job at Providence’s eight hospitals in Oregon in Hood River, Medford, Milwaukie, Newberg, Seaside and Oregon City and two in Portland. The strike also included nurses, physicians and other staff at Providence’s six women’s clinics in the Portland area and hospital physicians at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in southwest Portland. The physicians and clinic union members approved their deals but the nurses rejected the early agreement by more than 80%.
Wisconsin Supreme Court won’t hear case seeking to overturn 2011 anti-union law for now
February 18, 2025 // Dane County Circuit Judge Jacob Frost in December ruled that the law violates equal protection guarantees in the Wisconsin Constitution by dividing public employees into “general” and “public safety” employees. Under the ruling, all public sector workers who lost their collective bargaining power would have it restored to what was in place before 2011. The judge put the ruling on hold pending the appeal.
Wisconsin Supreme Court hears lawsuit from UW Health nurses seeking to unionize
February 17, 2025 // The nurses argue that UW Health, which is governed by a public authority but otherwise operates similarly to a private health system, is required to recognize their union under the Wisconsin Employment Peace Act, which governs private sector labor negotiations. However, Act 10 explicitly removed references to UW Health from the Peace Act. A ruling in favor of the nurses would allow them to move forward with unionizing and chip away at the restrictions of Act 10.