In Brief: December 2015/January 2016

North Country holiday celebration

Capital Region nurses celebrated a year of successes and renewed their commitment to protect quality patient care at the Inter-regional meeting held on December 8 in Schenectady.

Cortland County members’ holiday giving

Karen Felker-Harrity, RN and LBU Chair, was among several NYSNA members from the Cortland County Health Department who participated in an effort to brighten the season for residents of a local adult home by “adopting” them the holidays. Each resident drafted a wish list and the NYSNA members presented small wrapped gifts and stockings stuffed with needed personal care products at a holiday luncheon held at the home on December 5.

Climate justice

NYSNA First Vice President Marva Wade, RN, joined advocates at Harlem’s First Corinthian Baptist Church on December 16 for the NYRenew’s kickoff event. The group seeks ways for New York to provide leadership in the global campaign for climate justice.

Change the Rules. Be the Power.

NYSNA members traveled to Washington, D.C. for the AFL-CIO’s Martin Luther King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference, January 16-18. The conference theme, Change the Rules, Be the Power, inspired and challenged the 1,000 participants to step up their activism.

Nathan Littauer nurses at Dr. MLK, Jr. Day

On January 18, NYSNA members, including nurses recently locked out at Nathan Littauer Hospital in Gloversville, participated in the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Labor Celebration in Albany. The annual event, organized by the Capital District Labor Federation, is a tribute to Dr. King’s message of economic and social justice and his recognition of the role of organized labor in strengthening America. Amanda Ripple, an RN at the hospital, spoke during the main program and shared the story of the nurses’ fight for a fair contract, their recent one-day strike, and the hospital’s subsequent lockout of the nurses (see article).