Nurses at St. V's Trying to Unionize

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1380745/nurses_at_st_vs_trying_to_unionize/

Posted on: Monday, 12 May 2008, 03:00 CDT

By Cochran, Diane

Registered nurses at St. Vincent Healthcare who are trying to join a collective bargaining unit are in for a knockdown, drag-out fight with their employer, a union official said.

Citing concerns about patient safety and working conditions, 180 St. Vincent nurses have signed a petition seeking to join the Montana Nurses Association, said Robert Allen, the union's executive director.

About 350 of the hospital's 500 RNs are eligible to unionize, according to Allen.

But hospital administrators refused to accept or acknowledge the petition, which began circulating about a year ago, he said.

"People would literally put their hands behind their back, hook their fingers together and walk away," Allen said. "It's sad, because these people are approaching their employer."

In a statement released this week, hospital officials said the nurses' overtures were ignored because they were made outside standards set forth by the National Labor Relations Board, a federal agency that governs relations between unions and private employers.

"Legal counsel has advised (the hospital) that MNA's letter and petition may constitute an unlawful demand for recognition," the statement reads in part. "Even if not unlawful, (the hospital) will not accept any petition or agree to any demand for voluntary recognition of any union."

FULL story at link.

[Patchuli]

1. Kicked and Recommended for the Nurses!

My older sister is a 30 ICU nurse and I'm very proud of her! Nurses need a union; their employees pull such $hit on them. And out here we have this stubborn ass of a Governator who thought he was going to "kick the nurses' butts" and they kicked HIS BIG TIME!

Go Nurses!!!!

:kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: