Big May 18 Rally for Robin Hood Tax, Global Panel on Fight Against Austerity Cuts To Be Shown Via Live Stream. National Nurses United, May 17, 2012 Nurses from across the US, joined by US and global activists will rally in Chicago Friday, May 18. They will call on world leaders to adopt a Robin Hood tax on Wall Street trades, a way to raise hundreds of  billions of dollars every year to help heal the US and world economies. ... Nurses

Rick Karlin, Albany Times Union, May 17, 2012 In what they described as a move toward becoming more like a traditional trade union, members of the state Nurses Association have decided that supervisors in their respective hospitals or other health care facilities can no longer serve on the association’s board of directors. Basically it looks like they are drawing a line between supervisors and rank and file nurses. This comes as spokesman Bernie Mulligan, who has previously been with NYSUT, said the association plans to push hard in the Legislature for rules that would mandate new nurse-to-patient ratios. ... Nurses

The 37,000-member New York State Nurses Association voted Thursday to become more like a traditional labor union than a professional association. Daniel Massey, Crain’s New York Business, May 17, 2012 Following a leadership shakeup last fall, members of the 37,000-member New York State Nurses Association voted overwhelmingly Thursday to approve bylaw changes that will transform the organization from a professional association into a more traditional labor union. ... New

Albany Business Review, May 17, 2012 Members of the New York Nurses Association voted today to turn the century-old union over to the leadership of working, bedside nurses. About 2,500 bedside nurses - representing about 7 percent of NYSNA’s statewide membership - gathered in Manhattan to set a new course for the Latham-based organization. Under the new NYSNA rules, only working bedside nurses may serve as elected leaders of the union, with full power to set the course of the organization. Previous NYSNA allowed supervisors, with hiring and firing power over union members, to serve on the union board. ... Nurses

Mischa Gaus, Labor Notes, May 16, 2012 When Chicago’s “Mayor 1%” Rahm Emanuel threatened to derail the National Nurses United rally this Friday, NNU didn’t back down. The rally calling for a tax on Wall Street financial transactions is just one of dozens of events sparked by the gathering of the NATO security alliance in Chicago starting May 20, which Occupy is targeting as the “military wing of the 1%.” The meeting was originally called in conjunction with a gathering of the G8, the group of eight wealthy nations that are pushing austerity measures worldwide as the solution to the economic crisis. ... Nurses

National Union of Healthcare Workers, May 16, 2012 Tomorrow, Kaiser workers will begin to vote on SEIU’s disastrous deal with its “partner,” Kaiser Permanente. When Kaiser workers cast their ballots to vote no to this sell-out agreement, they should know one thing: SEIU’s contract ratification process is a sham. 

At Daughters of Charity hospitals, we know firsthand about SEIU’s ratification misconduct. Yesterday, along with our co-workers, we filed charges against SEIU President Mary Kay Henry and SEIU-UHW President Dave Regan for violating the SEIU and SEIU-UHW Constitutions in our recent ratification vote. ... SEIU

Ralph Cornejo, National Union of Healthcare Workers, May 15, 2012 When SEIU announced its “great contract” with Kaiser Permanente, one thing was clearly missing: the actual tentative agreements.

Only by reviewing the agreement between SEIU and Kaiser can workers make up our own minds about the takeaways that SEIU have agreed to. 

NUHW has obtained a copy of the tentative agreements and we’re sharing them with Kaiser workers today. We’ve also included comments that help to explain the tentative agreements. ... The

National Union of Healthcare Workers, May 15, 2012 SEIU wants us to take their word for it. They say that they’ve bargained a “great contract with no takeaways.” But why should any of us believe what SEIU says? 

Two years ago, SEIU and Kaiser broke the law, violated our rights and lied to us. The federal government overturned our 2010 Kaiser S + T election because of SEIU’s unlawful and dishonest conduct. 

Now, SEIU officials are telling us that Kaiser workers should approve a new contract while refusing to allow even members of SEIU’s own bargaining team to so much as read it. ... What

Mike Hall, AFL-CIO, May 12, 2012 Kaiser Permanente and the nearly 100,000 members of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, reached tentative agreement yesterday on a new, three-year national contract. The tentative agreement covers workers at hundreds of Kaiser Permanente health care facilities in nine states. The current agreement expires September 30. The tentative agreement includes wage increases and maintains current benefits plus improves the dental plan. Kaiser Permanente also has committed $19 million annually to two existing educational trust funds to ensure career development for its diverse workforce. ... Unions

Sal Rosselli, National Union of Healthcare Workers, May 11, 2012 Two years ago, NUHW members at Kaiser Permanente made a decision: at a time when Kaiser is making billions in profits, there’s no reason for workers to agree to the benefit cuts that Kaiser put on the bargaining table. So along with our allies in the California Nurses Association and the Stationary Engineers, we fought back. Our campaign to win a fair contract for Kaiser caregivers has included four separate strikes, including the two biggest walkouts in Kaiser’s history. Through these actions, we have stopped Kaiser from imposing any cuts on NUHW members. ... SEIU

Debbie Almendarez, National Union of Healthcare Workers, May 8, 2012 For months, SEIU and Kaiser have been trying to figure out a way to cut our health and retirement benefits. We’ve been standing up to them and saying, “No Way.” Because thousands of us have stood together, Kaiser and SEIU are stuck. They can’t push takeaways on us without being exposed as frauds. So now Kaiser and SEIU officials are discussing postponing the cuts until after the government reruns our Service and Tech election. There’s only one reason Kaiser and SEIU are backing away from their agreement to cut our benefits: because we said no. ... We're

Barbara Anderson, Fresno Bee, May 4, 2012 Fresno County's 10,000 homecare workers could face a rerun of a bitterly fought union election to decide their representation if an effort for a new vote is successful. But the bid for a re-election won't come without its own fight. Members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers want to overturn a narrow win in 2009 by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers-West. SEIU-UHW vows to oppose the attempt. ... Homecare

Coalition efforts fail to build consensus; financial markets tremble as possible Euro exit looms. Common Dreams, May 15, 2012 Coalition talks among the Greek political parties collapsed officially today in Athens and new parliamentary elections have now been called for next month. With over 70% of Greeks opposing an agreement that would dictate deep wage, pension and public spending cuts in exchange for ongoing bailout funds from the EU and the IMF,  leftist parties Syriza and the smaller Democratic Left, refused to cave to pressure from the Socialist and New Democracy parties to forge a coalition. ... New

Caps Historic Day of Protest – May 18.
National Nurses United, May 15, 2012 The critically acclaimed actress and playwright Anna Deavere Smith, who portrays a nurse on the Emmy award winning Showtime dark comedy Nurse Jackie, will perform Tell Us Where It Hurts, America’s Nurses are Listening, a theatrical piece written for an estimated international audience of more than 1,000 nurses. This unique performance is derived from real-life stories of nurses and their patients gathered by the members of National Nurses United (NNU). ... Anna

Victor Grossman, Portside, May 14, 2012 Berlin - In a way, it’s a “good news” and “bad news” angle. The good news: the Christian Democratic Union of Angela Merkel took a real whipping in the election in North Rhine-Westphalia (usually abbreviated to NRW), the largest German state in terms of population. Her smiling, almost benign mien, with little bluster or braggadocio, disguises less and less her tough advocacy of austerity - a code word for overcoming deficits not by hitting big banks and big biz, who caused the calamity, but rather the people who have always been hit worst and who are truly suffering. ... Some