NYPNU Contract 2009

As you know we have been preparing for bargaining since we signed our last agreement in October 2006. We have reviewed our grievances and arbitrations, contract surveys, unit meetings, as well as membership meetings. Additionally, we have reviewed and compared our contract with other New York City contracts. Our interns were instrumental in helping us research and formulate spreadsheets of these contracts. All aspects and articles of the contracts were outlined including ratios, benefits, wages, pension plans and healthcare. Based on all our meetings, grievances, surveys, and contract comparisons we developed proposals to address our needs and those of our patients.

These proposals were submitted to the administration on the first day of bargaining on Sept. 8th. We await a reasonable response from the Hospital.

Please visit our website,www.nypnu.org for contract updates. Also, please make sure that NYPNU has a current email for you and telephone number in order for us to keep you abreast of contract negotiations news.

Grievance / Unit Updates

Without going into too much detail, we would like to share with our members, two recent 3rd step grievances. In both cases, the third step grievance was heard and, as usual, rubberstamped by Human Resources.

We have already filed for arbitration and we are confident that justice will ultimately prevail. Unfortunately, it can take three or more months before these cases go before the Arbitrator. In the meantime, one nurse is out of a job and the other has been denied a position that she is entitled to. For both of them, this has been an ongoing nightmare.

CASE 1

An ER nurse here 12 years was accused of and summarily terminated for allegedly not giving an antibiotic to a patient while charting that the medication was given. The Hospital reached this conclusion because the patient’s family couldn’t recall that the patient received the antibiotic. The nurse, after seeing that the medication was not available in the omnicell (nor was it restocked for 17 subsequent hours) phoned the pharmacy multiple times and finally got them to tube the medication up – albeit un-labeled. The RN administered the antibiotic and charted the antibiotic was given. The MD indicated that the medication was given in the progress note. The patient improved and was discharged. The RN was terminated for “falsifying hospital records” based on the patient’s complaint! End of story. (The MD is still here)

CASE 2

An RN with years of expert clinical skills in a critical care area applied and was accepted for a lateral transfer to Same Day Surgery. Barely two months into her orientation, the RN was told she was being returned to her former unit. This occurred, despite the fact that her preceptor signed off on her level of competency inall areas. Why? – “She failed her orientation.” The overwhelming majority of RN’s on the Same Day unit cannot comprehend the administration’s arbitrary and capricious decision and neither can we! End of story.

Grievance / Unit Updates (continued)

NYPNU has also had to file numerous class action grievances on behalf of various units. Currently, we have 3rd step class action grievances pending in 5 Uris, 9 Uris, 8 East Lachman, CCU, and Radiology. All of these 3rd step grievances protest the violations of Nurse/Patient ratios, failure to provide breaks and required performance of non nursing functions.

On Sept. 14th we filed for arbitration on behalf of the ER nurses who continue to be plagued by severe understaffing and related unsafe and stressful working conditions.

All of these units have had the most (reported to NYPNU via fax violation forms) incidents of ratio violations, short staffing, inability to take contractual breaks and the routine performance of non-nursing functions.

As we begin bargaining for a new contract, we are disheartened by the administrations level of hostility and disrespect for our nurses. We are sincerely outraged at the hospitals’ recent decisions and recognize the need to be extremely vigilant in formulating contract language that protects our members from abusive and outrageous management decisions.

NYPNU Website

We are in the process of updating our NYPNU Website to assist with providing you with up to date information as it occurs in your Union. If you have any pictures of nurses on your unit, please forward it to nypnu@nypnu.org for us to place on the new site. Remember, to take pictures with nurses only in order to protect patients’ privacy. Thank you.

Political Action Committee

We are in the process of contacting our legislators and health care committee chairs and members to inform them of our bargaining priorities and ask them for their solidarity as we negotiate this contract.

If you are interested in participating in our political action committee by helping us with legislator’s district office visits, to explain NYPNU’s priorities, please send us an e-mail to nypnu@nypnu.org.

Adele Adams - MEETH

I’d love to have the DVD’s your children have outgrown to entertain children having Ambulatory Surgery at MEETH. Please leave child appropriate (we love Disney) DVDs at NYPNU office for Adele Adams to pickup. Thank you in advance.

Address Update From

Mailings

If you don’t receive NYPNU mailings or telephone calls, please stop by the union to fill out an address / telephone update form, especially during this contract season, when vital information will be disseminated.

Delegate / Unit Representatives

We currently have open delegate positions and unit representative positions. If you are interested in taking a leadership role within your unit, especially during this important contract negotiation period, please make an appointment to see Kathrina.