Registered nurses have called a two-day strike July 13 and 14 at Eastern Maine Medical Center to press hospital officials to finally address nurses’ concerns over unsafe staffing at the hospital. Negotiations have been on going since April with little movement over the key issue of safe staffing. Thursday morning, the RNs delivered a 10-day notice to hospital officials of their intent to strike, while noting that the RN negotiating team will continue to be available to bargain up to that deadline.

Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to grant review of a case challenging the survival of public sector unions poses a significant threat to public health and safety and quality of life, warned National Nurses United, the largest U.S. organization of nurses.

Citing impacts on access to care, patient health and the ability of patients, family members and health professionals to access Mission Bay’s hospitals and clinics in gridlock traffic, the California Nurses Association, today voiced opposition to the current plan for the proposed Golden State Warriors’ entertainment complex in Mission Bay.

More than 1,200 registered nurses who work at Cook County hospitals and clinics have, after many months of effort, won a tentative new collective bargaining agreement with county officials that they say addresses many patient care concerns and provides needed economic improvements.

The registered nurses of Leominster Hospital, who are represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association and who have been working to negotiate a new contract with UMass Memorial Health Care for more than a year, cast an overwhelming vote tonight in favor of authorizing a one-day strike in protest to management’s refusal to improve its RN staffing levels inside of the hospital.

National Nurses United welcomes today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding federal tax subsidies for low and moderate income people required to buy private health insurance, but said nurses will continue to work for more comprehensive reform, expanding Medicare to cover all Americans.