UAN's Activist newsletter—news from UAN's membership and around the nursing and labor communities—is distributed quarterly to all dues-paying members of the UAN.

Spring 2009 issue

Download PDF of Newsletter

Download PDF of Staffing Survey Results

President's Message

Building a National Staff Nurse Movement

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

After a spirited and frank discussion, UAN NLAdelegates passed a resolution in March givingsupport to the UAN Executive Council's dialogue withthe California and Massachusetts Nurses Associationsabout the formation of a new staff nurse "super-union"called UAN-NNOC that would include the threeexisting nurse unions and their total of 150,000 nursemembers. (Please see the full text of the resolutionat www.uannurse.org/who/resolution/2009/11.html.)

At press time, UAN has reached a provisionalagreement with the California and Massachusettsgroups to reunify thousands of staff nursesacross the country. We will be workingon a unification agreement and proposedconstitution by June 15 to present to ourrespective membership. We anticipate aspecial NLA this fall and a foundingconvention for our unified groupsin early December where UANdelegates will have theopportunity to consider theseproposals and elect officersfor our new group.

Since the founding of UAN ten years ago, wehave had a vision of reuniting staff nurses under ourcommon cause. Over the years, we have seen staffRNs splinter and work in isolation—and we haveseen employers, managers and anti-union forces takefull advantage of that isolation. Today, we have anhistoric opportunity to say to the world, ‘those daysare over.'

This is an exciting time to be a staff nurse,whether you are in a union or not. For nurse unionmembers, this is an opportunity to grow our ranks.For nurses who haven't yet had the opportunity tochoose a union, help is on the way.

These negotiations build on previous NLAdirectives—including measures passed in 2007 and2005—to actively discuss cooperation and affiliationwith other like-minded staff nurse unions. As wemove forward, I truly believe that with all staffnurses working together under one united banner,we are unstoppable.

In solidarity,
Ann Converso,
RNUAN President

Staff Nurse Power Advances Health Care Agenda at 10th NLA

Staff nurse delegates from across the country gathered at the tenthannual National Labor Assembly of the United American Nurses,AFL-CIO, to approve measures expanding UAN's capacity to addressRN and patient care concerns and position UAN as the pre-eminentnational union for staff registered nurses.

"We are committed to working with this newpresidential administration to create a safer healthcare system for all Americans and better patientcare conditions for RNs," said UAN President AnnConverso, RN. "UAN nurses laid the groundworkat this NLA for us to move forward boldly to meetthose objectives."

Following the NLA, nearly 100 staff nursesfanned out across Capitol Hill to lobby lawmakerson the need for federal staffing ratio legislation,the Employee Free Choice Act and the RESPECTAct, which is legislation to protect the collectivebargaining rights of RNs serving as charge nurses.

2009 NLA Resolutions

Resolutions passed at the NLA include measures to:

• Ratify a legislative agenda identifying healthcare reform, the Employee Free Choice Act, theRESPECT Act, RN staffing ratios, mandatory overtimelimits, safe patient handling, collective bargainingprotections for Veterans Affairs nurses and foreignnurse visas as top-tier priorities;
• Set a dues policy that enhances UAN's ability toprotect and fight for staff nurses and patients;
• Oppose federal legislation increasing the numberof foreign nurse visas—a move that does nothing tohelp RNs already in this country who may have leftbedside nursing due to poor working conditions orto protect other countries which can't afford to losenurses;
• Support voluntary flu vaccination for RNs but opposemandatory flu vaccine policies;
• Reject the National Council of State Boards ofNursing's Nurse Licensure Compact, which gives theNCSBN control of nursing regulation in 23 states withno independent agency oversight;
• Promote and expand UAN's work on environmentalhealth; and,
• Support UAN Executive Council discussions with theCalifornia and Massachusetts Nurses Associationsregarding the formation of a new national union, theUnited American Nurses-National Nurses OrganizingCommittee, AFL-CIO, with any affiliation agreementsubject to ratification by a future NLA.

To read the full text of resolutions passed by the NLA,please to www.uannurse.org/who/resolution.org.

UAN Election News

Delegates re-elected Executive Council members to threeyearterms running through 2012. They include:

• Jean Ross, RN, Secretary-Treasurer (Minnesota)
• Sandra Falwell, RN, Director (District of Columbia)
• Carolyn Hietamaki, RN, Director (Michigan)

Delegates also elected committee members tothree-year terms, including:

• Jennifer Michelson, RN, Hearing Panel Committee(Minnesota)
• Becky Sue Baldwin, RN, Hearing Panel CommitteeAlternate (Michigan)
• Renee Curtis, RN, Nominations Committee (Michigan)

Keeping the Pressure on for Employee Free Choice

While the big-business-funded,right-wing media machinestays on the attack, grassrootssupporters of the Employee FreeChoice Act are speaking out onhow the legislation will benefitthe country's middle class. Duringthe spring Congressional recess,activists held 400 community events,made nearly 100,000 phone callsand sent more than 27,000 lettersto Congress in support of the bill,which would allow workers to formunions and bargain first contractswithout fear of managementintimidation.

The switch in party affiliationof Sen. Arlen Specter and likelyeventual seating of MinnesotaSenate candidate Al Franken (D)puts Senate Democrats withinreach of the 60-vote super-majorityneeded to introduce debate onthe bill. While Specter madeclear that he is not changing hisstated opposition to the EmployeeFree Choice Act, his new statusas a Democrat provides moreopportunities to work with thesenator to reach consensus on thebill.

Tell your legislators howimportant it is for workers—notemployers—to make the decisionabout union representation intheir workplace. Call the Capitolswitchboard at 202-224-3121 andtell them why staff nurses needthe Employee Free Choice Act.For more information, go to www.uannurse.org/legislative/act.html.

UAN, Unions Voice Concerns Over Pan Flu Worker Protections

Local bargaining unit leaders inhealth care unions, includingUAN, report that not enoughhas been done to protect frontlinehealth care workers like staffnurses from a potential outbreakof pandemic flu. This finding isone of many from a survey andreport conducted by AFL-CIOearlier this year. UAN bargainingunit leaders from the Michiganand Minnesota Nurses Associationsparticipated in the survey. Accordingto the report, more than one-thirdof those surveyed said that theirworkplace is either "not ready oronly slightly ready to address thehealth and safety needs necessary toprotect health care workers duringa pandemic." Unions are urgingenactment of an OSHA mandatoryworkplace standard protecting healthcare workers against airbornetransmissiblediseases. To read thefull report, go to www.aflcio.rog/issues/safety/upload/panflusurvey.pdf.

Winners

Staff nurses atthe Miami VAMCCBOCs (communitybasedoutpatient clinics) recentlychose UAN as their collectivebargaining representative thisspring, joining hundreds of nursesrepresented by the Florida NursesAssociation/UAN at the mainMiami VAMC facility...

A recent county court decisionupheld the right of WVNA/UAN nurses at two AppalachianRegional Health Care facilities tocollect unemployment benefitsthat were due to them under statelaw from their time on strike in fall2007. The hospital had attemptedto get out of paying the benefits,saying ARH didn't owe the nursesbecause the strike "substantiallycurtailed" business—despite notingin its own legal brief that ARHspent $4.4 million on replacementnurses and other resources to keepthe hospitals open...

Congratulations to Hawaii NursesAssociation/UAN nurses at theHonolulu Kaiser Permanentefacility, who became the firstHNA and UAN participantsin the Coalition of KaiserPermanente Unions andthe national Kaiser labormanagementpartnership.

Calling All RNs Speak Out on Health Care!

AFL-CIO has launched the annualHealth Care for America survey for2009, and it's time for RNs to beheard. Staff nurses see every day theconsequences of a health care system thatis understaffed, overworked and availableto too few Americans. Let the public andour lawmakers know what you knowabout our health care system—take thesurvey at www.aflcio.org/healthcare/survey and make your voice heard!

Union Rights for VA Nurses

Since 1991, managers andsupervisors at Veterans Affairsfacilities have twisted a lawthat was originally intended to protectVA nurses' collective bargainingrights to instead prevent VA RNsfrom using the tools provided themthrough their unions.

UAN leaders at the nationaland state level are taking a messageto Congress that legislation mustbe passed to keep the VA fromthe grievance process to addressproblems with training andscheduling, for example. Ironically,because LPNs and other membersof the health care team are definedunder a different part of federallaw, they are not subject to thesesame restrictions.

Legislation (S. 362/H.R. 949)currently before Congress wouldrestore the collective bargainingrights of RNs in the VA health caresystem.

UAN President Ann Converso,RN, joined other union RNleaders at a Capitol Hill briefingin March sponsored by AFL-CIO'sRNs Working Together coalitionto educate legislative staff on theimportance of this legislation.

A month later, Hawaii NursesAssociation President Luanne Long,RN, an 18-year Army veteran,submitted testimony to the SenateCommittee on Veterans Affairs onthe importance of the legislation toveteran patients.

Long described the benefitsof union representation to her asa staff nurse and added, in hertestimony, "if a nurse is asked tocomplete assignments that regularlyviolate the VA's safe patienthandling policy, the RN should beable to file a grievance."

UAN is moving!

Please update your records withour new address:

United American Nurses
8630 Fenton Street, Suite 1100
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3836

phone, fax and internet contacts will not change:

(301) 543-8320
fax (240) 821-1817
www.UANNurse.org