LABOR
Union workers help with Hurricane Sandy cleanup: Along one the hardest-hit stretches of New York waterfront, union workers fixed Internet connections, disconnected gas pipes to prevent explosions and patrolled the streets in cop cars and ambulances.
Nurses and building operators at two Sonoma County, California hospitals have walked off the job in a three-day strike to protest wages and other issues.
LABOR
The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra has canceled concerts through the end of the year. Management locked out musicians Oct. 21, and the union on Wednesday unanimously rejected the current contract proposal.
From In These Times: Mitt Romney’s 9-Point Plan to Kill Unions.
In California: Hundreds of registered nurses walked off the job Thursday morning at seven East Bay hospitals affiliated with Sutter Health in a longstanding dispute over wages, benefits and service cutbacks.
HEALTH CARE
Representatives from the Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United held a press conference at the State House Thursday to brief reporters on a new law to ban the dangerous practice of mandatory overtime as an alternative to providing safe registered nurse staffing levels in the state’s acute care hospitals. The new law goes into effect on Monday, Nov. 5.
Oh, Canada: With patient satisfaction influenced more by hospital staff than by fancy lobbies or high-tech equipment, attracting and keeping a great workforce is a vital part of any hospital’s success. Hospitals looking to recruit and retain top talent should take note of Windsor Regional Hospital for inspiration. The Ontario, Canada-based hospital now offers its employees unlimited vacation.
LABOR
Labor and community groups are gearing up to defeat a measure on the California ballot in November aimed at undermining the ability of unions to financially support election campaigns.
State and national labor unions are cranking up the fundraising in an attempt to kill a proposed change to the Illinois Constitution.
In California, up to 3,200 registered nurses will go on strike beginning at 7 a.m. Thursday. at three Alta Bates Summit Medical Center facilities in Oakland and Berkeley, Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, San Leandro Hospital, Sutter Delta in Antioch, and Sutter Solano in Vallejo.
NOTES ON NURSING
Study: State-Mandated Nurse Staffing Levels alleviate workloads, lead to lower patient mortality and higher nurse satisfaction.
LABOR
Halloween Action: Dressed as mindless zombies, nurses will take to Main Street in Bagley from 12-4 pm on Halloween to call attention to Sanford hospital management proposals that they say are “scary” when it comes to protecting patient safety.
HEALTH CARE
Representatives from the Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United will hold a press conference on Nov. 1 to brief reporters on a new state law to ban the dangerous practice of mandatory overtime as an alternative to providing safe RN staffing levels in the state’s acute care hospitals. The new law goes into effect on Monday, Nov. 5.
LABOR NEWS
From The Star Tribune: Employers are getting more aggressive with “Take it or leave it” offers and turning to lockouts more and more as a bargaining tactic.
HEALTH CARE
Nurse: Mitt Romney’s health care plan is wrong for America.
The 107th Annual MNA Convention is underway this week in Duluth! Make sure you follow MNA on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates, photos and more!
LABOR NEWS
A report by the Economic Policy Institute shows that the decline in wages in Michigan is tied to the decline in collective bargaining.
At a noon rally in downtown St. Paul on Tuesday, musicians of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra sought to gain attention for their side of a dispute with management over pay, artistic control and other contractual details.
HEALTHCARE
When senators met nearly a decade ago to consider the dangers of pharmacies that mix or alter drugs with little federal oversight, health officials briefed them on some alarming findings about the safety and efficacy of drugs made by these “compounding pharmacies.” Now, as the deaths and illnesses mount from fungal meningitis linked to a contaminated steroid injection, the question of why early concerns about pharmacy compounding did not change U.S. law is a top focus for patients, regulators and lawmakers.
The 107th Annual MNA Convention is underway this week in Duluth! Make sure you follow MNA on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates, photos and more!
LABOR NEWS
Mercy Regional Medical Center in Lorain, Ohio, has reached an agreement with its nurses, avoiding a strike scheduled to occur this week, according to a Chronicle-Telegram report.
Former Republican insider Michael Brodkorb admitted to WCCO-TV last night that the controversial Marriage Amendment on the ballot this fall in Minnesota was created merely to increase voter turnout among Conservative Republicans.
Op/Ed in The New York Times: Want to Ruin Teaching? Give Ratings.
The 107th Annual MNA Convention is underway this week in Duluth! Make sure you follow MNA on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates, photos and more!
LABOR NEWS
Stop Crystal Sugar’s Greed! Sign the AFL-CIO’s Online Petition now!
The New York Times: The events of the fall of 2008 showed that many financial regulators were desperate to make anyone but those who created the crisis pay for its devastation.
HEALTH CARE
Wendell Potter: Mitt Romney’s talking points on health care are just like the ones I wrote when I was a health insurance industry PR flack.
Union Video: Romney’s Bain Selling Out American Workers to China
LABOR NEWS
Star Tribune Op/Ed by Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson: Just what’s behind this increase in lockouts?
The locked-out musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra plan to reunite with their former maestro for a concert next week.
Adding a medical director to a hospital’s staff is costing some healthcare institutions about $1 million each year, while creating a lucrative career path for the physicians who are hired in that role. This year, nearly 35% of medical directors are getting bonuses, 8% more than last year, a compensation survey shows.
LABOR NEWS
In California, RNs ratified a three-year contract with Mills-Peninsula Health Services, an affiliate of Sacramento-based Sutter Health. The nurses are represented by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United.
In Massachusetts, nurses at Baystate Franklin Medical Center headed back to work this weekend after a one-day strike that drew huge support from members of the community.
In Ohio, more than 500 RNs have issued a 10-day strike notice to Mercy Regional Medical Center in Lorain.
From The Washington Post: The wealthiest one-third of lawmakers were largely immune from the Great Recession, taking the fewest financial hits and watching their investments quickly recover and rise to new heights.
NOTES ON NURSING
Nurses are good barometers of care quality, according to a new University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing study that found nurse-reported quality accurately matched outcome measures, including death and life-threatening post-surgical complications.
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