Nevada Breakthrough for Fastest Growing Union
RENO, Nev.--(Business Wire)--Registered nurses at Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center in Reno
Thursday night voted by over 64 percent to join the nation's fastest
growing union, the California Nurses Association/ National Nurses
Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC).
It was the first victory for CNA/NNOC in Nevada - but, said
CNA/NNOC Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro, "it will be the harbinger
of more victories to come in the state where there is a booming
interest in CNA/NNOC achievements."
The final count was 252 to 141 in the secret ballot election
supervised by the National Labor Relations Board. CNA/NNOC will
represent 500 RNs at the hospital.
With the Saint Mary's win, CNA/NNOC has now grown by more than 350
percent in the past decade, and won elections for 24,500 RNs at 72
hospitals since 2001.
Nevada becomes the fourth state, joining California, Illinois, and
Maine, where CNA/NNOC represents RNs in collective bargaining.
Overall, CNA/NNOC has more than 75,000 members in all 50 states.
"We are rolling across the nation with a patient advocacy agenda
that is a beacon to nurses from coast to coast," said DeMoro Thursday
night. "We expect the Nevada nurses to be a model for nurses in other
states who will very soon also be voting for representation by
CNA/NNOC."
"For the nurses and patients at Saint Mary's, this is a monumental
night, with a breakthrough that will make this a better hospital for
patients and for the Reno community," said Malinda Markowitz, RN on
behalf of the CNA/NNOC Council of Presidents.
"We are excited to welcome the Saint Mary's RNs into the CNA/NNOC
family and to our joint commitment to improving the quality of patient
care and achieving a just healthcare system for all," Markowitz said.
Saint Mary's RNs now also join 10,000 of their colleagues at 25
other Catholic Healthcare West hospitals who are already members of
CNA/NNOC and have experienced dramatic gains in patient care
conditions and RN standards.
"We are thrilled that we are going to be negotiating to improve
quality of patient care at Saint Mary's," said Amy Barats, an
Emergency Room RN. "Safe patient care is our number one concern and
nurses now have the collective bargaining power to make changes
necessary."
"Retaining nurses to stay at Saint Mary's is the key to quality of
patient care," said Intensive Care Unit RN Kevin Redner, RN. "Nurses
are hoping for a productive and expeditious bargaining process from
CHW who has many years of bargaining relationship with CNA/NNOC
represented facilities and has contracts in place to pattern after."
To achieve the victory, the nurses also had to overcome active
interference by the Service Employees Intl. Union (SEIU) which
intervened in the election with virtually no support, tried to delay
the election with bogus charges, and then encouraged RNs to vote
against representation. Finally SEIU pulled its name off the ballot.
Strengthening their ability to act as patient advocates, improved
patient care protection standards, compensation, and benefits that
help recruit and retain skilled RNs were key factors for the Saint
Mary's RNs in voting for CNA/NNOC.
"We are ecstatic to bring the national nurses' movement to
Nevada," said Jill Furillo, RN, CNA/NNOC's CHW Director. "The nurses
will win a fair agreement for their work, and patients throughout the
state will gain because RNs will finally have a voice in health care
policy both at the facility and at the state level."
CNA/NNOC negotiated a groundbreaking contract for thousands of CHW
RNs this past summer. That agreement includes landmark patient
protections, such as inclusion of the California's mandated
RN-to-patient ratio law in the contract, as well as a clause that new
technology will aid--not impede--the RNs clinical judgment at the
bedside.
CHW in California has also agreed to provisions that help recruit
and retain nurses, including strong retirement protection and paid
healthcare benefits for RNs, spouses, and their dependents.
California Nurses Association
Jill Furillo, 916-417-6203
Roy Hong, 818-822-4318
Charles Idelson, 415-559-8991
www.calnurses.org
Copyright Business Wire 2007
