Dan Ivers, Meriden Record-Journal, October 28, 2011 Meriden - MidState Medical Center nurses began picketing outside the hospital Friday morning to protest a plan to revoke their pensions and what they consider inequities in their pay scale. There are 340 nurses who are members of the Connecticut Health Care Associates, a division of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The union has been in negotiations for a new three-year contract with MidState for several months, but the two sides were unable to reach an agreement before the contract expired September 30. ... MidState

The Day, August 2, 2011 Norwich - Representatives of the The William W. Backus Hospital and the registered nurses union are scheduled to begin negotiations Wednesday toward a first-ever contract agreement. 

A majority of nurses voted in May to form the union, which represents the largest employee group in the hospital. It was the second union to form at the hospital, after security guards and other support staff formed the first union last year. A tentative contract agreement with the guards’ union was reached Thursday.

Backus spokesman Shawn Mawhiney said Monday that the hospital is looking forward to beginning negotiations with the nurses. ... Backus

Claire Bessette, The Day, July 30, 2011 Norwich - The William W. Backus Hospital has settled one unfair labor practice charge with the Backus Federation of Nurses, which represents 425 nurses seeking to unionize at the hospital. The union, an affiliate of AFT Connecticut, had filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that Backus management had intimidated nurses during their union-organizing campaign. The union has filed a second charge alleging the hospital has failed to provide necessary employee information. ... Backus

Norwich Bulletin, July 26, 2011 The William W. Backus Hospital declined comment on an unfair labor practices charge filed by its nurses union with the National Labor Relations Board.

“We prefer to do our negotiating at the bargaining table and not the newspaper,” said Shawn Mawhiney, communications director of the Norwich hospital.

Backus Federation of Nurses, affiliated with Rocky Hill-based AFT Connecticut, and the hospital are scheduled for their first contract talks August 3. The union charged Monday that the hospital is withholding important employee data related to the talks. Backus is scheduled to answer an earlier nurses union complaint ... Backus

Norwich Bulletin, July 25, 2011 Norwich - AFT Connecticut, which represents nurses at The William W. Backus Hospital, has filed another unfair labor practices complaint against the hospital, it said Monday.

Management has “resisted attempts” to provide the union with “relevant information” regarding employee data for contract negotiations, the Rocky Hill-based union said in a press release. The union local, known as Backus Federation of Nurses, and management are due to have their first contract talks August 3 at the Holiday Inn Norwich.

“This is simply a delaying tactic,” John Brady, a Backus registered nurse, said in the union’s release. ... Nurses

Mark Gruenberg, Workday Minnesota, July 25, 2011 Washington - Sometimes, something very simple – like taking away peanut butter – can turn a person into a union activist. That was the case for an oncology nurse at Backus Hospital in Norwich, Conn., whose nurses just voted to affiliate with the American Federation of Teachers, said her colleague, John Brady, an RN and bargaining committee member for the union. “Management brought in this efficiency expert” to cut costs, just before the union organizing drive started there last fall, Brady told Press Associates Union News Service after a July 18 National Labor Relations Board hearing in Washington ... Unionists

AFT affiliation approved 210-175. James Mosher, Norwich Bulletin, May 11, 2011 Norwich - Nurses at The William W. Backus Hospital voted today to affiliate with a Rocky Hill-based union. The vote was 210 in favor and 175 against, according to tallies made by the National Labor Relations Board tonight. Voting took place most of today at the hospital with balloting ending at 8 PM. AFT Connecticut had been campaigning since February to bring the nurses, the largest block of employees at the Norwich-based hospital, under its wing. The union also represents nurses at Lawrence and Memorial Hospital in New London and Windham Hospital in Willimantic. Copyright 2011 The Bulletin. Some rights reserved

Judy Benson, The Day, May 11, 2011 Norwich - Registered nurses at The William W. Backus Hospital voted 210-175 to join AFT Connecticut, which represents the majority of the state's unionized hospital employees, including those at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital in New London. The result was released late Wednesday by National Labor Relations Board officials who oversaw the vote, which took place over eight hours in a room at the hospital. About 425 registered nurses were eligible to vote in the Backus election. After the vote, about 20 nurses gathered outside, cheering and laughing. ... Backus

James Mosher, The Bulletin, May 10, 2011 Norwich - A union election that has attracted the attention of Governor Dannel P. Malloy and much of Eastern Connecticut’s statehouse delegation will reach its climax this week. On Wednesday, 425 of The William W. Backus Hospital’s 450 nurses are eligible to vote in an election to determine whether to affiliate with AFT (American Federation of Teachers) Connecticut. If approved by the nurses, the union would become the second collective bargaining unit at Backus, which operated for most of its 118 years without a union. ... Backus

Judy Benson, The Day, April 27, 2011 Norwich - Ten Democratic state lawmakers have signed a statement supporting nurses at The William W. Backus Hospital in their efforts to unionize and calling on the hospital "to refrain from any illegal or unethical conduct against its employees." The hospital's 450 registered nurses will vote May 11 on whether to join AFT Connecticut. The four state senators and six representatives sent the statement to the hospital's board of directors Tuesday, titling it, "an open letter on the importance of neutrality." "We believe unionization promotes good jobs - good jobs are essential to growing a strong regional economy ... " Democratic

James Mosher, Norwich Bulletin, April 26, 2011 Ten state legislators recently signed a letter calling for The William W. Backus Hospital’s management to remain neutral as nurses decide on joining a union. The letter was distributed by AFT Connecticut, the union seeking to organize the Norwich-based hospital’s more than 450 nurses. Among the signatories are state Senator Edith Prague, D-Columbia, whose district includes Backus, and Senate President Donald Williams, D-Brooklyn. All of the signatories are Democrats. ... Lawmakers

Jim Moore, Waterbury Republican-American, May 25, 2010 State officials are working to revive a licensed practical nurse training program sacrificed in the name of deficit reduction, though tuition likely will triple. It remains unclear when, where, or if the next class will convene. It is equally unclear how the state's decision will impact future availability of nurses who comprise the majority of skilled staff at the state's nursing and convalescent homes. Advocates also worry the new program will be priced out of reach of many students seeking inexpensive professional education as a means to lift themselves out of poverty. ... State

Mara Lee, Hartford Courant, May 24, 2010 About 200 Red Cross workers in Connecticut plan to strike June 2. Workers say the nonprofit is skimping on safety because registered nurses don't attend every blood drive. Red Cross spokeswoman Donna Morrissey has said that blood collection and supply is "safer than ever before," and that it's not necessary to have a nurse at every donor drive to ensure that regulations are met. This work action is part of a national strategy by the Association of Federal, State, County & Municipal Employees, with 1,000 workers in seven states going on strike at once. ... Red

Leanne Gendreau, NBC Connecticut, May 3, 2010 Hundreds of Spectrum Healthcare nursing home workers from across the state have been on strike for three weeks over wages. Today, they head back to the bargaining table. Spectrum Healthcare workers are striking over wages, working conditions and contract concerns. Union officials said Spectrum Healthcare asked the workers at its four facilities to go without a raise until next year and threatened to hire replacements if workers didn't cross the picket line. Today, negotiations are slated to begin again. ... Negotiations

Kate Ramunni, Ct Post, May 3, 2010 Health care workers in Ansonia and Derby walked off their jobs at two nursing homes more than three weeks ago, and there's no end in sight, union officials said. About 200 nurses, nursing assistants and support staff at Hilltop Health Care in Ansonia and the Birmingham Health Center in Derby have been on strike since April 15, along with colleagues at nursing homes in Winsted and Hartford. The facilities are owned by Spectrum Health Care. ... Nursing