Unfair labor practice (ULP) charges have been filed with the National Labor Relations Board against five of the eight Orlando Health hospitals for numerous and egregious violations of federal labor law. The charges were submitted by the National Nurses Organizing Committee-Florida on behalf of Orlando Health RNs who are in the midst of a campaign to win a collective voice for safe patient care with the organization.

Seniors and Nurses Pledge to Fight for Hospital’s Survival After Meeting with Kaiser Executives. Local Kaiser patients and the registered nurses who care for them will hold a vigil Wednesday outside the Kaiser Manteca Medical Center to show their concern for ongoing service cuts at the facility. The vigil follows yesterday’s protest by seniors and RNs outside Kaiser’s headquarters in downtown Oakland. A delegation of seniors, who traveled from Manteca accompanied by RNs represented by the California Nurses Association, met with Kaiser’s top executives. After executives promised only to assess the situation not restore services, seniors pledged to continue to push for the services they are entitled to.

The Health Committee of the District of Columbia City Council will hold a hearing Friday on proposed legislation to require safer staffing for patients in District of Columbia hospitals. DC nurses and community leaders will be on hand urging the Council to act on a bill, the Patient Protection Act, introduced earlier this year by DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson with 10 of the 13 council members as co-sponsors.

Calling on Kaiser to Reverse Closure of Hospital in Manteca. Closure is part of pattern of HMO’s new model of care, limiting access to hospital and nursing care. On Monday, fifty seniors will travel from Manteca to Kaiser’s headquarters in downtown Oakland to protest the corporation’s withdrawal of vital services at Kaiser Hospital in Manteca. The seniors will bring photographs of their loved ones who have been harmed by Kaiser’s policy of cutting and denying services in Manteca and rerouting patients to Modesto and beyond.

Registered nurses and other care providers at ten Veterans Administration medical centers in New York, West Virginia, Illinois and Colorado were unpaid or underpaid during their last pay period ending October 25. The payroll errors occurred when the VA’s new payroll system, VATAS, went into effect in these states.