Grievances and Arbitrations

• NYPNU has filed a class action grievance regarding management’s expanded inter-pretation of the impact of the one-year pension freeze. NYPNU agreed to a one-year freeze under which the administration would not have to make a contribution for the 2007 plan year. Management is now claiming that the freeze also affects final average compensation for all those who retire over the next five years. As we said at the bargaining table, NYPNU would never agree to a pension modification that affected members unequally. The grievance hearing is scheduled for June 1st. If the grievance is not satisfactorily resolved at that level, we will fully exercise all of our rights under the law and will call on the membership to respond accordingly.
• A class action grievance on behalf of 8 Uris RNs was heard on May 24th. Under a settlement agreement reached in March 2006, the staff nurses are to use their professional judgment to select one person on the nursing team to attend the community meeting each Monday. For the past month, the Nurse Manager has been assigning the resource nurse the responsibility for attending the meeting. This is clearly outside the scope of resource nurse responsibilities as delineated in the contract. We will take all necessary action to maintain the contractual limitations on resource nurse responsibilities and to enforce the settlement agreement.
• The delegates voted unanimously in favor of arbitrating a class action grievance over the ER management’s failure to rotate charge duty fairly and equitably as required by the contract.

NYPNU Student Nurse Program

The Union is in discussions with the Hospital to create a NYPNU-sponsored summer program for student nurses, which would serve a dual purpose: 1) relieving

some of our workload during prime time and 2) helping to recruit the students to LHH/MEETH when they graduate.

Delegate Vacancies

Delegates are elected to three year terms. Between elections, the Delegate Assembly may appoint delegates to fill vacancies. We need to know who is interested in becoming a delegate in the event vacancies become available. If you are interested, please contact the Union office. The ED and the OR are particularly in need of representation.

Automated Sick Call System

With the implementation of the automated sick call system, some members have expressed concern about the potential loss of sick call messages through accidental deletion or mechanical failure. The Staff/Management Committee addressed this issue. Jay Civello stated that there have been no reports of missed calls so far. The current procedure is that a secretary picks up the call, and a second person must also hear it before it is erased. There is a time stamp on each call. If you are uncomfortable just leaving a message and would like to speak to a live person when you call in, you may certainly do so.

Universal Health Care

A lecture entitled “Universal Health Care, Medicare, & U.S. Politics: Opportunities and Obstacles” will be held at 6:00pm (reception at 5:15pm) on Tuesday, June 5, 2007 at the Cherkasky-Davis Conference Center, 1199/SEIU, 330 W. 42nd St., 33rd Fl. Penthouse. The speaker is Ted Marmor, Professor Emeritus, Yale University. He is an internationally known health policy expert. The event is part of Rekindling Reform’s annual meeting. Rekindling Reform is a joint initiative of academic programs, professional associations, trade unions and health care advocates of which NYPNU is a part. Please RSVP to email@rekindlingreform.org or 212-580-3890.