Iowa RNs fighting to join Minnesota Nurses Association

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_4663

26 October 2010

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa - Nearly 200 Registered Nurses at Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs, Iowa, have been forced to issue a formal petition to the National Labor Relations Board after hospital officials refused to address and honor their request to join the Minnesota Nurses Association.

“This is a clear case of the corporate executives running our hospital refusing to put patient safety and the well-being of the nurses who care for them first,” said Doris Ballantyne, a Registered Nurse at the hospital. “All we’re asking for as nurses is the same ability to bargain with our employers over new labor contracts that we’ve had in place for decades now. This isn’t anything new.”

The move is necessitated, she said, because the Iowa Nurses Association, which traditionally represented nurses during contract talks at hospitals including Jennie Edmundson, is moving away from collective bargaining. Because of that, the nearly 200 RNs at Jennie Edmundson felt compelled to reach out to the MNA for representation, according to Ballantyne.

“The vast majority of nurses at Jennie Edmundson want the Minnesota Nurses Association to represent us in contract negotiations,” she said. “But the hospital officials are refusing to address and recognize this request. This should not be a controversial or difficult decision for our employer to make. It’s merely allowing nurses the same voice we’ve always had when it comes to advocating for our patients’ safety and the well-being of the nurses who provide them with critical medical care.”

FULL story at link.