Grievances and Unit Issues

• A class action grievance regarding ratio violations on the 5 Uris night shift was heard on 3/3/06. Eleven nurses from the unit came to the grievance and vigorously presented their case. The grievance was filed because Dionne Riley had repeatedly threatened nurses with suspension if they objected to taking more patients than the contract permits. Ms. Riley’s response to nurses who raised safety concerns was for the monitor nurse to take a district, thus compromising the safety of all patients on the unit. Phyllis Yezzo, the Acting Vice-President of Nursing, was present at the meeting and assured the staff that we have her total support and the problem will be addressed. We are awaiting the Hospital’s written response.
• An arbitration concerning the responsibilities of the resource RN on 8 Uris is scheduled for March 29th. The 8 Uris resource nurse has a full patient assignment, but is expected to take on extra responsibilities outside the scope of the 5 resource functions set forth in Article XXVII of the contract. In the event we are unable to settle this grievance prior to arbitration, we are confident that we will prevail on the basis of the clear language of the contract.
• The Union has filed for arbitration on behalf of a 5 Uris RN who was terminated for alleged job abandonment.

Unsafe Assignments

If the Hospital forces you to take an unsafe assignment, immediately ask the nursing supervisor to sign an unsafe assignment form, contact a delegate, and fax a copy of the form to the Union. For contract violations that do not rise to the level of an unsafe assignment, please fill out the NYPNU Staffing Documentation Form. Both forms are available at the Union office and on the NYPNU web site at http://www.nypnu.org/
rights_forms.html.

Universal Health Care

• As part of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act Of 2003, the U.S. Congress created the Citizens' Health Care Working Group (CHCWG). The CHCWG was established to engage Americans in a nationwide debate about shaping a health care system that would give everyone access to quality, affordable health care coverage. The Working Group’s information gathering process entails organizing dozens of local health care community meetings throughout the country. This information will then be used to make final recommendations to the President and Congress. Nurses have a critical role to play in influencing this debate. The New York community meeting will be on Saturday, April 22nd from 1:00pm – 5:00pm. To register, go to www.citizenshealthcare.gov or call (301) 443-1502.
• Save the Date! The First Annual Sumner Rosen Lecture is entitled “The Labor Movement & United Action for Health Care for All”. It will take place on Thursday, May 18, 2006 from 6:00pm – 8:00pm at 1199/SEIU, 330 W. 42nd St. Leo Gerard, President of the Steelworkers Union and co-chair of Health Care-Now will be the keynote speaker. The Sumner Rosen Lecture is a joint project of Rekindling Reform and the Five Borough Institute.

Political Action

The Working Families Party, of which NYPNU is an affiliate, is sponsoring a forum to coincide with the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq—Out of Iraq: Why & How. At 7:00pm on Monday, March 20th, learn what we can do to bring the troops home. Congressman Jose Serrano will deliver the keynote address. The location is Columbia University, Barnard College, Lehman Auditorium, 202 Atschul (enter west side of Broadway at 117th St). For more information, call (718) 222-3796.