This victory is for the patients and the American community who depend on nurses, which spans this entire country.
If you haven\’t kept up with this
story, well, let\’s just say there is finally a happy ending. It\’s a great
win for the SEIU
nurses in Las Vegas and all the people who depend on them.
I covered this story starting with the lockout, through the sponsorship of
SEIU that was made possible by MyDD, so this
news came as a welcome relief to me. The SEIU nurses of Las Vegas have ratified
a contract.
After months of remaining united for quality patient care, nurses and techs
at UHS Valley and Desert Springs Hospitals voted unanimously to approve the
tentative agreements reached with hospital administration.Some highlights of the agreement include:
– Major improvements to make the Patient Care Committee more effective. Over
the next 60 days, our union and UHS management will jointly hire a neutral
third party who will facilitate the meetings. Meetings will be monthly and
the CNOs are required to attend.
– Mandatory Overtime will be the first agenda item for the Patient Care Committee.
– Safe floating protections maintained.
– Retroactive wage increases back to May 1, 2006 for Desert Springs RNs and
to June 1, 2006 for Valley RNs and Desert Springs Techs.
– Protection of all nurses’ union voice, regardless of the “Kentucky
River” loophole.“This agreement empowers health care workers to have a
greater voice about staffing and how it affects the care we deliver.”
— Teresa Meyers, RN, Desert Springs
I\’ve heard from several SEIU nurses, including Chris Moore late last night (that\’s him in the picture above), whom I interviewed
on my radio show at the height of the lockout. Chris became a media darling during the lockout and I\’d say played a huge part in casting UHS as the bad guys, which in this story they most certainly were.
Back in December you featured me on you(r) (radio show) call in for the nurse lock
out. I wish to thank you for all you did. As you may know we have ratified
a contract and will be working to better the health care for Las Vegas and
all who come to UHS hospitals. Through help from wonderful people such as
you I feel we prevailed for our patients. Thank you sooooo…. Much.Chris
Moore RN
Valley Hospital
Two people who helped make this possible include the first woman in Nevada
history to be Assembly Speaker, Barbara Buckley, and Commissioner Rory Reid
(Senator Harry Reid\’s son), both of whom were guests on my radio show after they got involved to try to get UHS to the table.
But let\’s remember, this is one happy ending. The
union busters are still alive and well and working against the
restoration of the middle class, which may sound dramatic but is accurate. Our work is far from done as long as David
Bussone and his ilk are in the picture.
Congratulations to Chris Moore and all the
SEIU nurses in Las Vegas who stood firm. I\’m proud to have had a small role in getting their story heard.
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