News Briefs: October 2014

Franklin Hospital protests

Franklin Hospital nurses in Valley Stream, Long Island, picketed on September 10 to protest North Shore LIJ Health System’s proposed cuts. North Shore LIJ would cut or eliminate Safe Patient Handling and Safe RN Staffing measures, as well as effectively ignore Violence in Workplace initiatives.

A first for the Capital Region

In the Capital Region, hundreds of NYSNA nurses from Ellis Medicine, Bellevue Woman’s Center and Nathan Littauer Hospital join together in a multi-facility picket on October 9. This was the first time nurses from several facilities in the area came out in unison, seeking patient protections in the form of safe staffing guidelines and demanding respect for RNs. An Interregional meeting for these nurses is scheduled for the evening of October 29.

Climate march

NYSNA joined the historic People’s Climate March in New York City on September 21, where more than a quarter million marched and rallied in mid-town Manhattan. People from around the world came to join the March, as awareness of climate change, and its profound threat to the environment and public health, tops global agendas.

NYSNA President Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez addressed a rally made up of labor’s supporters for the climate march. NYSNA was the first union to endorse the People’s Climate March.

Single payer hearings

Starting November 12, in Buffalo, Richard Gottfried, author of New York Health, begins NY State Assembly Health Committee hearings on single payer legislation. This is the first of six hearings. For schedule of others and details, see www.nysna.org. 

HHC victory

On October 1, nurses from the 11 public hospitals and mayorals celebrated their “no givebacks” contract victory in Manhattan. More than 8,000 NYSNA members comprise the union’s HHC membership. They voted overwhelmingly – by a margin of 97% – for the new contract over the summer.