RNs serve notice as hospital ignores concerns about staffing and patient care. New York State Nurses Association, January 23, 2012 Flushing – Registered nurses at Flushing Hospital will strike at 7:15 AM Tuesday, February 7. A federally required notice 10-day notice of intent to strike was filed this evening with the National Labor Relations Board, hospital management, and local police. The 420 RNs are represented by the New York State Nurses Association. Their most-recent contract expired on December 31, 2011. The RNs voted overwhelmingly Friday to authorize a strike, believing management has left them with no other choice. ... Flushing

Fighting to recruit and retain nurses, protect patient care. New York State Nurses Association, January 20, 2012 Flushing – For nearly a year, registered nurses at Flushing Hospital have made a sincere effort to negotiate a fair contract. Hospital management, however, hasn’t. Flushing RNs are particularly angered that management is now trying to intimidate them by stopping payments to their health and pension plans. Believing management has left them with no other choice, the RNs voted overwhelmingly tonight to authorize a strike. ... Flushing

Brian Quinn, Wellsville Daily Reporter, January 18, 2012 Belmont - Only six nurses are employed by Allegany County since the county sold its certified home health and long-term care programs to Willcare a few years ago. However, the ones who remain have a tentative labor agreement with the county, an agreement which could be approved by the Board of Legislators Monday. The county and the New York State Nurses’ Association have been trying to come up with an agreement since the old one expired December 31, 2007. Three of the nurses are public health nurses, two of whom work in the health department and one in the Department of Social Services. ... County

10-to-1 margin seals new four-year pact. New York State Nurses Association, January 17, 2012 Bronx - Members of the New York State Nurses Association at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx overwhelmingly ratified their new four-year agreement in two days of voting that concluded late Friday evening, January 13. By a 10-to-1 margin, nurses approved a new contract that meets their bargaining goals: stronger staffing levels to provide quality care for patients, fair wages and affordable prescription benefits. The agreement will add 125 new professional registered nurses, a 7.5 percent raise over four years, a $750 bonus after ratification ... Nurses

New York State AFL-CIO, January 17, 2012 Albany - Creating jobs and strengthening the middle class is the number one priority of the labor movement. Much of the Governor's budget proposal advances that agenda and we look forward to working with him to that end provided appropriate labor protections are in place. However, on the issue of Tier 6, we disagree with the contention that the current defined benefit pension is unsustainable. What is unsustainable is a society where each generation of middle class worker retires with less financial security than the one before. ... Statement

Joe Anuta, Queens Times Ledger, January 13, 2012 Unionized nurses negotiating a contract with Flushing Hospital are furious that management did not sign an agreement to continue their pension plans while the two sides duke it out at the bargaining table. “This is really mean-spirited stuff,” said Wanda Shelton-Martin, a representative of the New York State Nurses Association. “This hospital is not caring for its nurses.” About 50 people gathered outside the hospital, at 45-00 Parsons Boulevard, last Thursday to condemn the hospital for not signing the interim agreement, which would keep pension and health-care benefits intact for six months ... Nurses

Union Democracy Review, December 9, 2010 NY Nurses United, the pro-union opposition group in the New York State Nurses Association, chalked up an important gain in the August election of top officers. NYSNA two-year term elections are staggered. This time, of the six positions to be filled, the opposition group had nominated four and called for a write-in for a fifth. Of its four candidates on the ballot, it elected three. A total of 2,703 members cast their mail ballots. ... Background

Union Democracy Review, September 15, 2009 Three nurses filed suit in federal court in January against their New York State Nurses Association. The case arises out of the association's decision to disaffiliate from the United American Nurses, the AFL-CIO national union of registered nurses. The complainants were members of Nurses for Unity, a caucus which campaigned against disaffiliation: Lorna Samuels is a member of the association Board of Directors and its secretary; Patricia Leo Holloman and Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez were Board members through October 2007. They ask the court to void the disaffiliation decision, to reverse disciplinary sanctions imposed on them ... Background

Fred Mogul, WNYC News, January 9, 2012 Nurses this week will vote on a proposed settlement with Montefiore Medical Center, potentially concluding a season of tense contract negotiations that had unions at four different hospitals threatening to strike. Nurses at the other three hospitals - Mount Sinai, New York-Presbyterian’s Columbia University Medical Center and Saint Luke’s-Roosevelt - have already ratified deals. Each union had been without a contract since the start of 2011 and each had voted to authorize a strike, if negotiators deemed the step necessary. The ratification vote will take place at Montefiore this Thursday and Friday. ... Montefiore

Talks at a ‘standstill,’ union says, as management denies temporary extension. Irving Dejohn, New York Daily News, January 9, 2012 Nurses at a Queens hospital say that management has unfairly pulled the plug on their benefits, forcing them to treat the sick as they face the loss of health insurance themselves. Employees of Flushing Hospital Medical Center picketed outside the facility last week, demanding the administration strike a deal to reinstate their pension payments and health benefits. “They say they don’t have money but we’re constantly bringing people in,” said Kathy Kelty ... Nurses

RNs angry over contract negotiation delays, giveback demands. New York State Nurses Association, January 9, 2012 Mount Vernon - Registered nurses at Mount Vernon Hospital will conduct a candlelight vigil Thursday to protest management’s continued demands for givebacks. The vigil will be from 5 to 6:30 PM, Thursday, January 12, in front of the hospital at 12 North Seventh Avenue. The 125 RNs are represented for collective bargaining by the New York State Nurses Association. This will be the nurses’ second public protest in what has become an increasingly tense round of negotiations. ... Nurses

Sue Davis, Workers World, January 9, 2012 During lunchtime on January 5, the 350 registered nurses at Flushing Hospital in Queens, NY, plan an informational picket to demand the hospital continue its payments to health and pension plans. Represented by the New York State Nurses Association, the RNs say comprehensive benefit plans are needed since they are likely to suffer health problems developed on the job and cannot continue working until 65. Flushing Hospital CEO Robert Levin has offered no wage increases for three years, but has made proposals that would deprive each nurse of $150,000 in lifetime pension benefits. ... RNs

Stephon Johnson, Amsterdam News, January 6, 2012 A tentatively planned New Year's strike has been averted by the nurses of Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. The nurses, represented by the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), successfully negotiated a new four-year contract with Montefiore shortly before the parties broke for New Year's weekend celebrations. The 2,300 professional registered nurses gave the hospital a strike notice for January 10, but it will now be withdrawn. The contract will provide about 125 new RN positions, salary increases of 7.5 percent over four years, a one-time lump sum payment of $750 ... Montefiore

New York State Nurses Association, January 6, 2012 Manhattan - Members of the New York State Nurses Association at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan have ratified a new four-year contract, from January, 2011-January, 2015. The new agreement includes wage increases of eight percent during the life of the contract, a $1,500 lump sum payment upon ratification, and two payments of $600 each to be made in December, 2013 and December, 2014, to offset new premium contributions. Starting in 2012, the hospital will pay for prescription drugs when a nurse's annual catastrophic out-of-pocket prescription drug expense exceeds $1,500 ... Mount

The Brooklyn health care center completed contract negotiations with its unionized nurses without the big threats of strike that other hospitals have faced, but its future under a new CEO remains undecided. Barbara Benson, Crain’s New York Business, January 6, 2012 Nurses recently threatened to strike at four major New York City hospitals. But in Brooklyn, a financially troubled community hospital settled a contract with the same nurses union without rancor - perhaps because the hospital's dire financial state left little room for negotiating. Wyckoff Heights Medical Center last month topped off smooth contract talks with nearly 400 nurses with a ratified three-year contract. ... Wyckoff