1,600 Washington Nurses Join National Nurses United (better than 15-1 margin)

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2010/10/08/1600-washington-nurses-join-national-nurses-united/

by Mike Hall, Oct 8, 2010

By a better than 15-1 margin, the 1,600 registered nurses in Washington, D.C.’s largest hospital, Washington Hospital Center (WHC), voted to join National Nurses United (NNU) this week. The nurses have been in the independent organization Nurses United of the National Capital Region and will now be a part of NNU.

Last week, WHC management unilaterally imposed restrictions on nurses’ ability to advocate for their patients by eliminating a labor-management patient-care committee, as well as significant wage and benefit cuts on the nurses.

Stephen Frum, RN, who has been the lead negotiator for Nurses United, said the recent action by management has shown

tremendous disrespect for the registered nurses and a callous disregard for the needs of our patients, and the hospital’s latest move only adds insult to injury. We have already experienced significant turnover of nurses here—more than 220 RNs have left since the beginning of the year—because of the working conditions and management’s failure to address these issues inevitably will have a negative impact on patient care.

FULL story at link.