June 17, 2012, 2:30 PM, 110th Street between 5th Avenue and Lenox: NYSNA nurses will join civil rights, faith, labor and community groups in a silent march against NYC’s “stop and frisk” policy on June 17. NYSNA nurses will stand together with thousands of other New Yorkers to show that we refuse to let our children, or our patients’ children, be victimized by racial profiling. ... End

NYSNA RNs to tell patients, community concerns about quality care. New York State Nurses Association, June 12, 2012 Bay Shore - Hundreds of New York State Nurses Association members will picket outside Southside Hospital in Bay Shore tomorrow afternoon. After months of bargaining, the financially strong hospital, part of the massive North Shore-LIJ system, is threatening the stability of the award-winning nursing workforce. Seven recent bargaining sessions have made little progress and show the hospital is stalling in addressing the nurses' concerns about patient care and economic issues, like safe staffing for patients and decent pensions for nurses. ... RNs

New York State Nurses Association, June 11, 2012 Following are a selection of images from the Shore Medical Center Informational Picket, held Saturday, June 9. Click on the individual thumbnails for a larger image.

New York State Nurses Association, June 1, 2012 On June 14, the man who assaulted two Northern Westchester nurses will return to Mount Kisco Justice Court. On behalf of the 237,000 registered nurses in New York, NYSNA will be there to stand up to violence against nurses and violence against women - the two issues at the heart of this case. We will line the streets of Mount Kisco from 1:00 - 3:00 PM. Buses will be available from several Westchester facilities, as well as from NYSNA offices in New York City and Latham. ... Stand

Approved by the NYSNA Board of Directors May 22, 2012

Whereas, on December 14, 2011, a hearing panel that was convened pursuant to the Constitution of the American Nurses Association (“ANA”) issued a decision suspending the constituent member status of the New York State Nurses Association (“NYSNA” or the “Association”) for one year commencing December 15, 2011; and

Whereas, the hearing panel’s conclusion that NYSNA had engaged in “dual unionism” by hiring the Interim Executive Director was without any legitimate legal or factual basis; and

Whereas, the Association vigorously appealed the hearing panel’s decision to the ANA Board of Directors; and

National organization wants dues, payments from state association. Eric Anderson, Albany Times Union, May 23, 2012 Albany - A national organization, which the New York State Nurses Association helped found three years ago, is now suing the state group, seeking delinquent membership dues and other payments. The National Federation of Nurses, formed in 2009 by the state nurses union and unions from five other states, filed sued last week in US District Court in Albany. It seeks $609,000 in overdue membership dues, another $228,000 in withdrawal and disaffiliation charges, the equivalent of three months of dues. ... Nursing

Ask for city’s support in contract talks. New York State Nurses Association, May 22, 2012 Mount Vernon – Helping Mount Vernon Hospital recruit and retain registered nurses is the key to keeping our community healthy. And the key to keeping good RNs at Mount Vernon is a fair contract. This was the message that a contingent of Mount Vernon nurses gave to Mayor Ernest D. Davis during a meeting this morning at City Hall. The hospital’s 95 RNs are members of the New York State Nurses Association. Their most recent four-year contract expired on August 15, 2010. They’ve been trying to negotiate a new agreement since October 2010, but management continues to fight them every step of the way. ... Mount

Mark Brenner, Labor Notes, May 18, 2012 New York nurses upended the 100-year power imbalance between bedside nurses and nurse managers yesterday, voting to bar supervisors from elected office in the New York State Nurses Association. NYSNA simultaneously launched a public campaign to make New York the second state that legally mandates staffing levels for nurses, pushing a nurse-to-patient ratio bill similar to one adopted in California in 2004. Thursday's one-two punch, at a mass meeting attended by 2,400 members, showcased the reform agenda promoted by a slate of nurses who took over NYSNA leadership last fall. ... New

NYSNA will take on safe staffing as top priority. New York State Nurses Association, May 17, 2012 New York City - Today thousands of nurses voted to transform their union - the New York State Nurses Association – into a dynamic force for safe staffing across the Empire State. In an historic, unprecedented meeting, thousands of professional Registered Nurses and health care professionals voted to transform their union's structure to take on the challenge of protecting good jobs for caregivers and provide quality care for our patients. Delegates from dozens of workplaces across the state voted to change many of the union's bylaws ... All of the bylaw changes passed by huge margins. ... Thousands

Lisa Colangelo, New York Daily News, May 8, 2012 Nurses who work at city hospitals are taking their contract gripes to the airwaves this week. The New York State Nurses Association unveiled a new TV and radio campaign designed to ramp up pressure on the city’s Health and Hospitals Corporation and the Bloomberg Administration. The previous contact expired in 2010. The spot focuses on the work nurses perform at city hospitals ... 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

On May 17, thousands of NYSNA members will come together to make our union stronger and more united. ... Proposed bylaws changes for consideration by the membership reflect a vision of unifying the association by embracing its role as a multipurpose organization: professional association and progressive union. ... One

National Nurses United, April 6, 2012 New York - Registered nurses represented by the New York Professional Nurses Union (NYPNU) cast an overwhelming vote this week to affiliate with the NorthEast Nurses Association/National Nurses United (NENA/NNU), the nation’s largest union and professional association of RNs, to provide its members with a stronger regional and national voice in this era of dramatic change in health care.

 NYPNU, the oldest independent New York nurses union, established in 1984, is comprised of more than 1,100 nurses, who work at Lenox Hill Hospital and at Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital in New York City. ... New