NEW YORK NURSE: May 2009
by Mark Genovese
Results of the 2009 election for open seats on the Delegate Assembly and its Nominating Committee were announced.
Elected to four-year terms as zone delegates, starting Sept. 1:
Elected to two-year terms on the assembly’s Nominating Committee, starting Nov. 1:
Each year at the NYSNA convention, the Delegate Assembly honors a past or present local bargaining unit officer who’s made outstanding contributions to their bargaining unit. The deadline for submitting nominations for the 2009 award has been extended to July 1. A nominee must be a current NYSNA member, an elected local bargaining unit office holder within the past three years, have made significant contributions to their bargaining unit while in office, and not be a current member of the Delegate Assembly. For further information, please contact Adriena Quiñones-Melvin at 888.551.2112, ext. 136.
Three RNs from North County bargaining units attended the meeting as observers: Twila Ottinger from Carthage Area Hospital, Laura Houppert from Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown and Kimberley Honeywell, also from Samaritan. The Delegate Assembly welcomes visitors from local bargaining units – just contact your nursing representative to make a reservation.
Robin Brennan, Zone 3 delegate from Cortland County Health Department, discussed how her bargaining unit used the process of “facilitated negotiation” to improve communication with management during their recent contract talks. She described how teams of negotiators took part in training classes so they could develop an understanding of the process and each other, how they made commitments to share information and be cooperative, and how the process was kept on track by a facilitator. NYSNA hopes to use this process at other facilities in the future.
“Zoning in,” now a regular feature of Delegate Assembly meetings, gave delegates an opportunity to discuss issues faced by bargaining unit members in their geographic zones. Some delegates shared their lobbying, arbitration and contract negotiation successes. Others discussed how the troubled economy is affecting their facilities, how they’re trying to improve staffing, and how they’re fighting to protect their members’ privacy from the increasing use of electronic tracking of nurses in the workplace.