Press releases

First Maine RN Leader Cokie Giles is Elected to National Nurses Union Presidency

Cokie Giles, RN, president of the Maine State Nurses Association (MSNA) and a working nurse at the endoscopy clinic at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, has been elected as one of the four presidents of National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC), one of the largest and fastest growing direct-care RN unions in the United States. Maine has been affiliated with the NNOC since 2006.

Maine State Nurses Association/NNOC/NNU

May 30, 2013

Federal Government Indicts Sutter Memorial for Violating Labor Law-Trial Set for August 5

The federal agency that oversees labor law has ordered Memorial Medical Center, a Sutter facility located in Modesto, to stand trial on charges that it violated RNs’ right of free speech, guaranteed under federal labor law. An administrative law judge of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will conduct the hearing, which is scheduled to begin on Aug. 5 at Region 32 of the NLRB in Oakland.

California Nurses Association

May 29, 2013

Rideout Health Group California RNs Ratify New 4-Year Pact

It’s a wrap. Registered Nurses at Rideout Health Group facilities in Marysville and Yuba City Tuesday voted overwhelmingly in membership meetings to approve a new four year collective bargaining contract, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United said today. The ratification ends a long effort by the 400 RNs to achieve an agreement that they say will strengthen patient care protections as well as standards for the RNs who work at the Rideout Regional Medical Center in Marysville and Women and Infant Services in Yuba City.

California Nurses Association

May 29, 2013

DPH Issues Finding Declaring Child Psych Unit at Cambridge Health Alliance an Essential Service

The Department of Public Health has just issued its findings regarding the proposed plan by Cambridge Health Alliance to close its nationally recognized child psychiatric unit for the care of young children with acute mental illness (The DPH letter text appears at the end of this release) The DPH finds that this unit provides an essential service that is “necessary for preserving access and health status in the Cambridge Hospital’s service area, which for the children and adolescents it serves extends throughout Eastern Massachusetts.”

Massachusetts Nurses Association/NNU

May 28, 2013

RNs, Rideout Health Group Reach Tentative Agreement Nurses Welcome Gains

Registered Nurses who work at Rideout Health Group facilities in Marysville and Yuba City north of Sacramento have reached a tentative agreement on a new four year contract that provides important patient care and economic gains and holds the line on health coverage, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United said today. The settlement will go before RNs for ratification in membership meetings Tuesday, May 28.

California Nurses Association

May 24, 2013

UMass Medical Center University Campus Nurses Reach Agreement-Strike Averted

After hours of negotiations today the registered nurses of UMass Memorial Medical Center’s University campus reached a tentative agreement with UMMMC management that provides the staffing improvements nurses sought to ensure their patients receive quality care at this level one trauma center. The settlement averts a strike, which was set to begin at 6 a.m. on Thursday.

Massachusetts Nurses Association/NNU

May 23, 2013

Big Rallies Today – San Jose and Berkeley

Registered Nurses at Good Samaritan and Regional Medical Center in San Jose begin a two-day strike Thursday, May 23 as RNs at five East Bay Sutter hospitals begin the final day of their seven-day walkout. Both walkouts –protests against hospital employer demands for sweeping reductions in RN standards and concerns about patient protections – will feature large mid-day rallies.

California Nurses Association

May 23, 2013

UMass Medical Center University Campus Nurses Strike Update

Final Round of Talks Scheduled from 2 – 6 p.m. Today at DCU Center. Pre-Strike Rally Tonight at 6 p.m., Coral Seafood, 225 Shrewsbury St., Worcester. If Talks Fail, Nurses to Conduct One-Day Strike for Safe Patient Care, Thursday, May 23, Beginning at 6 a.m. Nurses Will Picket for 24 hours and will be prepared to re-enter the hospital on May 24 at 6 a.m. to resume care of patients.

Massachusetts Nurses Association/NNU

May 22, 2013

San Jose Nurses to Begin Two-Day Strike Thursday Cite Concerns over Safe Staffing, Proposed Pension

Registered Nurses at Good Samaritan and Regional Medical Center in San Jose have will begin a a two-day strike Thursday, May 23, continuing Friday, May 24. Key issues to protest the refusal of hospital officials to move forward in efforts to end the contract dispute with nurses which centers in large part on proposed elimination of the nurses’ pension plan, and concerns about hospital staffing. The 1,400 RNs at the two HCA-affiliated hospitals are represented by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United.

California Nurses Association

May 22, 2013

Leading Nevada RN Organization Opposes SB 362

‘Bill Would Help Hospitals, Not Patients, and Erodes Safe Staffing’. A major organization of Nevada registered nurses is calling on Nevada legislators to reject a misleading bill promoted by hospital executives that nurses say would undermine their efforts to genuinely protect patients and speak up for safer patient care conditions.

NNOC-Nevada / NNU

May 22, 2013