Whitman goes toe-to-toe with nurses union

Nurses Union

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whitman goes toe-to-toe with nurses union

by martin wisckol, orange county register

2010-07-02 13:14:10

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/whitman-256161-nurses-union.html

meg whitman is trying her hand at a manner of union busting – and her degree of success will help determine whether she's elected governor in november.

several major labor unions have launched campaigns to elect democrat jerry brown, with the california nurses association taking a particularly aggressive tack. even before the primary, a delegation from the union was dogging billionaire whitman at public events, dressing up in whitman wigs and featuring its own queen meg. a sampling of its satirical slogans: "only the rich deserve health care." "rich enough to rule." "we can't afford our democracy so why not try a monarchy?"

the nurses union has set up a facebook page, www.queenmeg2010.com. it's bought ads on spanish-language radio, reminding latino voters of her strong "no amnesty, no driver licenses, no sanctuary cities, no state universities for illegal immigrants" language during the primary. they're also planning to launch a campaign targeting women voters.

whitman has struck back by setting up her own website for nurses, www.truthfornurses.com. she points out that only one in four nurses here belong to the statewide union. she has done two mailings so far to california nurses. her poll of nurses shows whitman and brown in a statistical dead heat (the nurses union counters that the poll methodology was rigged).....

Whitman attacks on nurses part of larger strategy

By JULIET WILLIAMS (AP) – 1 day ago

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iz1KDA_s3y7YNWwy0M7qiA1PqAWgD9GUEM3O2

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Nurses Association, one of the most aggressive labor groups in the state, has never encountered a foe like Meg Whitman, the billionaire former chief executive of eBay who spent more than $90 million winning the Republican nomination for governor.

The 85,000-member union is accustomed to winning, often in attention-grabbing ways. But it now finds itself in Whitman's crosshairs as part of her campaign against California's Democratically aligned public employee unions.

While the nurses association represents both public and private employees, it is part of the labor establishment Whitman has railed against. To Whitman, the unions symbolize California's undisciplined spending, political gridlock and inefficient, outdated operations that are anathema to her corporate sensibilities.

After the nurses association rejected Whitman's request to turn over its membership roster, she responded by buying a publicly available list of all the state's registered nurses, about 370,000. She then began mailing them fliers that slam the union's leadership, questioning its spending on anti-Whitman campaign events and saying its approach is unprofessional...

Atherton police prepare for nurse rally at Meg Whitman's home

by Shaun Bishop, Daily News Staff Writer, 7/15/2010

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_15518087

Atherton police are bracing for the town's quiet streets to be flooded today with hundreds of nurses for a rally outside the home of Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman.

The California Nurses Association says the noontime rally — which is expected to draw up to 1,000 nurses to the former eBay executive's house on Edge Road near Menlo-Atherton High School — is a "response to a decision by candidate Whitman to mount an offensive attack directly against the" union.

"Since Meg Whitman refuses to talk directly to nurses, without the filter of her handlers and high-priced consultants, our members are coming to deliver a message to her: RNs and CNA will not be pushed around or bullied like one of her subordinates or subjects," said Malinda Markowitz, co-president of the union, in a statement....

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Filmed at CNA/NNU headquarters in Oakland, California. 40,000 Republican and pro-Whitman RNs forced by NNU to finance production of Queen Meg videos out of mandatory union dues, now over $1000 per year.

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Tour bus renovations and Queen Meg actress paid from mandatory union dues.

Specializes in Critical-care RN.

Check out protest at Queen Meg in Atherton :yeah::yeah::yeah:

Specializes in Critical-care RN.
:idea: opps.... http://www.laborstart.org/cgi-bin/show_statenews.pl?state=California
Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.

Filmed at CNA/NNU headquarters in Oakland, California. 40,000 Republican and pro-Whitman RNs forced by NNU to finance production of Queen Meg videos out of mandatory union dues, now over $1000 per year.

Where did this "information" come from?

Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.

california governor's race: meg whitman vs. the nurses union

...only a small percentage of cna's 85,000 nurses work for the state, but budget cuts and furloughs affect the state agencies on which the nurses depend. cna spokesman chuck idelson gives this example: in november, the union filed a detailed complaint about conditions at uc davis medical center with the california department of public health. idelson says, "as of mid-june, the department had still not assigned an investigator to the case."

whitman says she wants to "downsize or rightsize" sacramento and take the state's payroll back to what it was five years ago....

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,2004619,00.html?xid=rss-topstorie

ps: we also need enough staff at the brn to expedite the disciplinary process.

Where did this "information" come from?

One could say where it came from in terminology not allowed on this site, so let's just say it's largely imaginary. Whitman is trying to promote the fiction that nurses don't support our leadership in this campaign, but this is a highly democratic union in which all of the board that have voted to oppose Whitman have been elected by our members. The 1000 or so nurses who turned out for the rally in Atherton were volunteers who came on their own off time. The Whitman agenda is dangerous to nurses and our patients and needs to be exposed and shot down.

Specializes in ICU/CCU/TRAUMA/ECMO/BURN/PACU/.
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Tour bus renovations and Queen Meg actress paid from mandatory union dues.

You may be a bit uninformed about this; union dues are for contract administration, just cause grievance and arbitration hearings, negotiation, legislative advocacy (worker comp, competency, workplace/environmental heath, and safety regulation), communication, member education (association sponsored CE classes), publications, and organizing/administrative/member representation staff. In my opinion, the union dues are a great value and members get a lot by supporting their collective workforce in solidarity.

It's my understanding that in the CNA/NNOC union, and in most unions, members can elect to have SEPARATE (non-tax deductible) contributions deducted from their checks, or make periodic, VOLUNTARY contributions to support the political action committee advocacy activities. I have filled out such a form. This contribution is distinct from the payment of what you are calling "mandatory", a.k.a "fair share" dues and fees for member representation and service.

Speaking of support for the politics that matter to nurses, such as patient safety and worker protection, we have historically not only advocated at the bedside for our patients, but in the political arena such as the State House or Congress, as social justice advocates on behalf of our constituents and the public we serve. We must alert the public when a condition (or pending and actual legislation) is present or proposed that is a threat to their health, safety, and general welfare. Our agenda is transparent and it doesn't matter if you're a so-called Republican, Democrat, Green, Labor, or Independent voter. When candidates for office seek our endorsement, we ask for specific answers to relevant questions.

Corporate cronyism, abuse of discretion, bullying, use of physical force and coercive power that puts profits before the needs of people is wrong. Whitman personally profited by engaging in acts that are now illegal and by laying off workers and outsourcing jobs. As a candidate for California's governorship, she's made statements that indicate she's in lockstep with Schwarzenegger, who time and time again has sought to roll back and deregulate the public safety legislation supported by nurses.

Is success in our society to be measured by the accumulation of a personal fortune that's been acquired at the expense of others? Should such a person be governor; someone like Whitman who's using her billions to attack nurses for exercising their constitutionally protected rights? We don't have her money, but we're smart, strategic, creative, and good stewards of the resources we share. (Personally, I love the Queen Meg parody as an example of this.) We do have a duty to educate the public, as circumstances require, to ensure they have sufficient information to make informed decisions with respect to their choices; especially when a choice or a condition exists that may not be in their best interest. :nurse:

Besides, the candidate who's running against Whitman is Jerry Brown. As our former governor and our current Attorney General, his experience, integrity, and competency speaks for itself. Why isn't she debating him in unscripted and public forums? Is it because she lacks those qualities and fears widespread exposure of that fact...

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