Letter from Molly O’Connell, RN

Submitted by smaple on

Dear Johns Hopkins Nursing Colleagues,

By way of introduction, my name is Molly and I am an oncology nurse on Weinberg 4A. For the past several months, I have been actively working with nurses from units throughout the hospital to organize a union, to protect our patients and ourselves.

I believe strongly in the value of unions, in protecting worker safety and ensuring economic stability for its members. My grandfather, an elevator mechanic, was in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. He purchased his first home in Milford, PA on a union pension. My mother was a social worker and organizer for SEIU 1199. She organized Long Island Jewish Hospital, and she still receives the pension that she negotiated over forty years ago.

In the coming days, many of you may be taken away from patient care to attend mandatory anti-union meetings held by management. These meetings are led by consultants paid by the hospital to perpetuate myths, such as the loss of unit-specific flexibility, economic losses of strikes, and futility of negotiating contracts, to prevent us from voting for and forming a union.

I want to emphasize that these contentions are false. I have been a daughter and granddaughter of union members my entire life. Unions bring better wages, better schedules and safer workplaces. They promote involvement in the very policies that dictate our practice. They ensure long-term stability through contracts. I know this because my loved ones have experienced or continue to experience this on a daily basis.

I hope you will join me by learning more about what unionization will bring to Johns Hopkins Hospital. We can negotiate a contract with improved hourly rates, set ratios and break relief. We can participate in a Professional Practice Committee to ensure we have safe assignments and feasible, evidence-based nursing policies. We will benefit, and our patients will benefit.

As Johns Hopkins nurses, you are undoubtedly passionate and skilled in your clinical practice. You all work unbelievably hard to keep our patients safe. You deserve recognition and compensation for all that you do.

Yours sincerely,

Molly H. O’Connell, RN