Three trillion dollars a year. That's how much the wealthiest Americans avoid through the system of subsidies and schemes and sweet deals that deprive middle-class workers of their earned benefits. That's three times more than the deficit. That's enough for a full-time job for every middle-class household in America. —Common Dreams, 01/09/13 More »
Nurses at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Rafael, and 20 other Kaiser hospitals from Santa Rosa to Fresno, picketed Wednesday to protest what they say is "persistently inadequate nurse staffing." The action mounted by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United comes as Kaiser is attempting to cut its nurse staffing. —Marin Independent Journal, 12/20/12 More »
Why is the President back to making premature and unnecessary concessions to Republicans? Two central issues in the 2012 presidential election were whether the Bush tax cuts should be ended for people earning over $250,000, and whether Social Security and Medicare should be protected from future budget cuts. —Robert Reich's Blog, 12/20/12 More »
Our nurses see dire need every day in the ER, but the growing gulf of inequality in the US has made such deprivation ubiquitous. With a compromise on social security now unmasked – costing the elderly an estimated 6.2-7.7%, according to business writer Doug Henwood – America becomes more and more a place of poverty. Warnings that austerity begets poverty will go ignored, but the nation's deteriorating condition cannot so easily be overlooked. —The Guardian, 12/19/12 More »
Tomorrow is Worlds Aids Day. And those working on HIV/AIDS have an amazing story to tell the world: we can end the AIDS crisis. Breakthroughs in science have shown us that getting AIDS drugs to those with HIV not only keeps them alive and healthy, but can reduce risk of infection by 96%. This news is amazing - from now on, no one needs to die of AIDS - no one needs to become HIV positive. —Robin Hood Tax UK, 11/30/12 More »
It wasn't even close. That's the unexpected result of the November 6 election. And President Obama and his supporters must wrap their heads around this new reality -- just as their Republican rivals are going to have to adjust to it. After a very long, very hard campaign that began the night of the 2010 “Republican wave” election, a campaign defined by unprecedented spending and take-no-prisoners debate strategies, Barack Obama was reelected president. And he did so with an ease that allowed him to claim what even his supporters dared not imagine until a little after 11 p.m. on the night of his last election: a credible, national win. —The Nation, 11/07/12 More »
St. Johns Health Center registered nurses on Friday and Saturday ratified their first ever collective bargaining agreement in a secret ballot, according to the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United. —Santa Monica Mirror, 10/31/12 More »
Mention nurses in the Bay Area these days and two images come to mind: a caring, nurturing professional at a patient's bedside, and a perturbed, bullhorn carrying protester walking a picket line. By one estimate, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United has called more than 70 strikes at the state's hospitals in the past two years. Its members will walk off the job again Thursday, waging a one-day strike against seven East Bay hospitals affiliated with Sutter Health as part of an 18-month-long attempt to negotiate a new contract. —Silicon Valley Mercury News, 10/31/12 More »
As a Bakersfield nurse who has dedicated the past 29 years to serving my community, I am deeply alarmed at the danger posed to my patients, my neighbors and my family by Proposition 32. Sponsors of Prop. 32 hope the misleading ads that fill our screens daily will persuade you this measure will restrict corporations and unions from influencing elections. Nothing could be further from the truth. —The Bakersfield Californian, 10/25/12 More »
The Massachusetts Nurses Association hailed the announcement today. “We applaud the decision,” said David Schildmeier, MNA communications director. “It's something we've been advocating for well over a year.” He said, “This is a very important development for those suffering from mental illness in Massachusetts, as this will preserve psychiatric beds at a time when there is a dramatic and dangerous shortage of those beds.” —Telegram, 10/11/12 More »
BANGOR, Maine — A report released Wednesday by a labor group contends that nurse understaffing is having a negative effect on patient care at Eastern Maine Medical Center, but EMMC officials question the report’s sourcing, data and timeliness. The report, presented by the Worker Rights Board of Eastern Maine during a press conference Wednesday morning at the Bangor Public Library, says that: —Bangor Daily News, 10/11/12 More »
Nurses at Baystate Franklin Medical Center returned to work at 7 a.m. on Saturday after their 24-hour strike. The strike began at 7 a.m. Friday. The next negotiation session between the Massachusetts Nurses Association and Baystate Franklin Medical Center is set for Oct. 25. —Several Sources, 10/09/12 More »
There is a hidden risk buried inside Proposition 30 that goes far beyond cuts to education, according to Hope Richardson, policy analyst for the California Budget Project. If the initiative doesn't pass on Nov. 6, she said, it's true that a series of cuts go into effect that would take billions of dollars out of education funding in California. "Most of the trigger cuts are to education," Richardson said. —California Healthline, 10/04/12 More »
SACRAMENTO -- The Yes on Proposition 39 campaign announced today that the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA) has endorsed Proposition 39, the November ballot measure that will close an unfair corporate tax loophole that has been costing California $1 billion annually. —Yes on Prop 39, 10/04/12 More »
As mandated by State law, the California Department of Health Services requires acute care hospitals to maintain minimum nurse-to-patient staffing ratios. Required ratios vary by unit, ranging from 1:1 in operating rooms to 1:6 on psychiatric units. The legislation also requires that hospitals maintain a patient acuity classification system to guide additional staffing when necessary, assign certain nursing functions only to licensed registered nurses, determine the competency of and provide appropriate orientation to nurses before assigning them to patient care, and keep records of staffing levels. —Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 10/03/12 More »
The Inclusive Prosperity Act, or H.R. 6411, would establish a 0.5 percent tax on the trading of stocks, 50 cents on every $100 of trades and lesser rates on bonds, derivatives and currencies. It's being touted as the "Robin Hood tax" because it would generate an estimated $350 billion dollars annually that would go towards growing local economies, taking from the rich to help the poor. —San Francisco Bay Guardian , 10/03/12 More »
A transaction levy, or “Robin Hood Tax,” could help fund $100 billion of climate change aid that developed countries have pledged by 2020, and extend to health care and education as well, the 63 groups said in a letter yesterday to Clinton that was e-mailed today by Friends of the Earth. —Bloomberg News, 09/28/12 More »
Citizens Protecting Michigan’s Constitution’s latest ad lies to attack Proposal 2. The 30-second ad falsely claims that Proposal 2 will block schools from removing employees with criminal backgrounds and remove safety standards for school bus drivers. “The last thing we need is parents worrying about the lies in this ad,” said Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon. “Proposal 2 won’t make it harder to protect our kids. —Protect Working Families, 09/27/12 More »
On the eve of Occupy Wall Street’s first anniversary, Congressman Keith Ellison introduced a much-needed common sense bill: HR 6411, the Inclusive Prosperity Act. The bill taxes financial transactions to generate revenue for social needs. Amid our consensus-narrowed, deficit-obsessed political debate, it’s a call to arms, and a breath of fresh air. —The Nation, 09/26/12 More »
WORCESTER — UMass Memorial Health Care said Tuesday it will eliminate 140 positions as it seeks to find $80 million in budget cuts and new revenue for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1. —Telegram.com , 09/25/12 More »
