As board weighs case, strike by nurses enters second year (NJ)

[struggle4progress]

By JOSH BERNSTEIN
Burlington County Times


WILLINGBORO - <snip>

But significant developments could be on the horizon, depending how the National Labor Relations Board rules on the circumstances of the strike, which is centered on whether management can change work schedules for nurses without union or individual consent.

The board has been reviewing the case since June. If it rules in favor of the hospital, labor laws would allow those nurses who crossed the picket line to return to work and those hired to replace the strikers to vote to stop being represented by the union. Nurses still on strike and loyal to the union would not be able to vote. <snip>

Representatives of JNESO, the 287-member nurses union, said the vote could not occur until the board rules on unfair labor practice claims against the hospital and several open arbitration cases are resolved.

"This has got nothing to do with a contractual dispute," said Virginia Treacy, union executive director. "It's plain and simple union busting." <snip>

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/112-04192005-477969.html

[AnneD]

1. Why Nurses Strike.......

Nurses strikes are as rare as hens teeth. Nurses are first and foremost a patient advocate. They are the air traffic controllers of health care. The health care industry has been abusing nurses kind nature for far too long. When wages were going up in the 90's and Health care was making record profits-nurse's wages were flat and new nurses were not finding jobs. Even today, according to the GAO, we numerically have enough nurses for openings in this country. Wait you say, I see ads for nurses all the time. And they offer huge bonuses. There is a huge shortage.
Now while my nurse friends and I can only provide anecdotal evidence at this point...many companies advertise for positions, but they want incredible skill levels, BUT THEY DON'T WANT TO PAY MORE THAT A BEGINNING LEVEL salary scale for this hard won skill. Personnel will disqualify a candidate, and management will say, "I/m sorry, we have an ad in the paper but no one is coming in...we are having a shortage you know. You'll just have to work shorthanded". A hospital's biggest expense is labour and since Nurse services are included IN THE ROOM CHARGE as opposes to an line item billing, we continue to be an expense, not a revenue generator. It is in their best bottom line interest.
Nurses, however, have a different bottom line. Their bottom line is patient care and safety. They are tired of being forced to give what they know is substandard. They are tired of being treated like mindless handmaids. With all the technically delicate equipment used- they are more like engineers, with all the changing medical protocols-they take enough educational courses to earn a doctorate every 5 years of practice, they are required to lift more weight by themselves than UPS workers. They face physical and verbal attack from Docs and patients and their safety is ignored by management. Frankly, I am surprised strikes don't happen more often. Instead, most nurses throw up their hands and leave the profession due to burnout. I think the fact that the strike has gone on this long points to the seriousness of the enviroment. I can tell you this, the future of health care is in the crapper.

[struggle4progress]

2. I've known more than one nurse who burned out. eom