CNA/NNU sends letter to Sutter CEO Pat Fry re: Lockout

[scecile]

[color=#990000]cna/nnu executive director roseann demoro sent a letter today to sutter ceo pat fry regarding the lockout involving thousands of california nurses.

[color=#3b5998]http://nationalnursesunited.org/page/m/6c0b08d1/ac47662/714c384b/1685a056/2864742538/vese/

september 25, 2011

pat frychief

executive officer

sutter health

dear mr. fry:

following the tragic death of a patient at your alta bates summit medical center campus in oakland, i find it unconscionable that you are refusing to engage in a discussion with me that i had requested through your attorney which could serve to alter sutter's course in its ongoing lockout of your regular registered nursing staff.

your attorney's response that you believe that all the nurses working are qualified and competent and that you have no intention of changing your strategy is shocking under the circumstances today and given the issues that are at the heart of the dispute between you and the sutter nurses.

i personally requested that you involve yourself in a discussion and further have suggested that as the ceo of sutter that you personally engage in settling this ill conceived dispute with dedicated sutter nurses and present yourself to hear from the nurses in bargaining their specific patient care issues that are at the heart of our differences. i make those requests again.

the nurses and the community are deeply concerned that this terrible incident raises substantial concerns about public safety in the facilities where a lockout is presently underway.

as you are probably aware, on friday, even before the latest incident, we had contacted the california department of public health asking them to investigate whether all the replacement nurses employed during the lockout at alta bates summit were meeting california law, particularly in guaranteeing demonstrated clinical competency and appropriate certifications for the hospital areas where they were assigned.

that request to the cdph was prompted by specific reports that had been brought to our attention about problems with competency and certification among the replacement staff.

further, that request occurred hours before reports of the death of one of your patients which the san francisco chronicle reported, was due to "what the hospital described as a 'medical error' made while she was under the care of a replacement nurse."

your decision to retain the out-of-state replacement nurses, in light of this grave incident, rather than return the regular nurse staff to work and end your imposed lockout in order to prevent any further such incidents, is senseless. this recent patient death follows a previous incident early friday morning when a replacement nurse was found to be incompetent to perform her duties, and cna was contacted under emergent circumstances to have the regular nurse returned in order to safeguard the patient's health.

as you know, kaiser permanente, where 17,000 rns also held a one-day strike thursday, september 22, elected not to lock out any nurses, a clear reminder that a lockout at sutter

facilities was unnecessary and unwarranted and, as circumstances have proven, unconscionable and untenable.

as you also are aware, i have been trying to reach you since last night when the incident occurred. i will be available at any and all times to meet with you and your representatives along with sutter nurses to resolve all differences so that the patients who utilize sutter facilities will know that they have the security of the expert care provided by experienced, permanent sutter nurses who are free to advocate for their patients without fear of reprisal.

roseann demoro

executive director

california nurses association/national nurses united

cc:

governor jerry brownattorney

general kamala harris

congresswoman barbara lee

senator lonnie hancock

assemblyman sandre swanson

oakland mayor jean quan

[vanburbian]

Sutter Management has always been a bit egotistical. Mr Fry just can't seem to keep his foot out of his mouth.

In Solidarity

[Chico David, BSN, RN]

Sutter Management has always been a bit egotistical. Mr Fry just can't seem to keep his foot out of his mouth.

In Solidarity

abit of an understatement. Arrogant is the term that comes to mind here. Sutter management have always looked on themselves as above the ordinary rules that apply to others.

[nicurn001]

Unfortunately a patient has paid the price for that arrogance .

[roser13, ASN, RN]

I'm in the Midwest and do not know any details of the one-day strike/lock-out. Is anyone willing to give a brief synopsis for those of us who aren't aware of these details?

[Chico David, BSN, RN]

I'm in the Midwest and do not know any details of the one-day strike/lock-out. Is anyone willing to give a brief synopsis for those of us who aren't aware of these details?

A brief synopsis is hard, since there are a number of entities involved and the issues are different in each place - but here's a fast stab:

Smallest first:

1. Children's Oakland: Been in bargaining for some time, expired contract, have struck a couple times before. Hospital asking for significant cuts in health benefits.

2. Sutter Health: Large "non-profit" chain. Nurses have been in bargaining for some time (different dates at different hospitals). Hospital asking for wide range of cuts in benefits, staffing protections and work rules.

3. Kaiser-Permanente: Nurses not in bargaining at all, but another smaller unit representing folks like social workers and optometrists in bargaining and Kaiser demanding huge cuts in health and retirement benefits. That union decided to strike and the nurses decided to follow the age-old union tradition of not crossing another union's picket line. Partly prompted by genuine desire to support those other workers and partly by knowledge that once Kaiser wins those concessions from those other workers they will want the same from nurses in the future. So it was important to make it real clear that would be a bad idea. And because larger strikes are more powerful than small ones, the decision was made to coordinate strikes against all three employers.

In all cases the nurses called a one-day strike. Kaiser did not engage in a lockout of the nurses after the strike. Sutter and Children's did. Sutter and Childrens both claimed that they could not get replacement workers without hiring them for several days - hence the lockout. The fact that Kaiser did get replacements for a single day only seems to pretty much expose that claim for what it is. The patient death that has been widely reported occurred during the lockout phase, not during the strike.

Best I can do for a short summary.

[roser13, ASN, RN]

Thank you very much. I did realize the humor in asking for a "brief" synopsis as I typed it.

[nicurn001]

Roser I was just about to flame you , there are several threads active related to the strike / lock out you could have looked at them ?.

But basically Sutter wants to reduce benefits to it employee , employees and Kaiser nurses went on strike . Kaiser nurses out for one day ( even though replacement nurses used ) back to work next day, whilst Sutter nurses locked out for several days .Either Sutter management is being punitive by keeping nurses locked out for sevral days or it is incompetent as Kaiser were able to contract replacements for one day while Sutter management couldn't get the same deal and accepted a several day contract .

[nicurn001]

As usual Chico you put matters in a clear and succint manner , thank you .

[roser13, ASN, RN]

Roser I was just about to flame you , there are several threads active related to the strike / lock out you could have looked at them ?.

Thanks, I guess () for not flaming me for asking for information that I was unaware of. A simple "there are many threads here on this subject" would have been just fine.

[kcmylorn]

:idea:Just out of curiosity- What was Lord( or is it King) Fry's response to the NNU's letter. What was his response to the 2 statements of relating to patient jeapordy. Does he plan on blowing off the the Dept of health also? $8 million/yr and look at the acknowledgement of responsiblity and sense of accountability. It seems to me that if someone is paid $8million/yr their job performace should be stellar- "exceeding competency standards" in all columns. Who does his peer review?? Shouldn't he be held to the same performance standards as he has his merry band of court jesters- the Nursing management hold the staff nurses to- one screw up and your fired/gone/history/outta my face and the building with an escort?:idea::idea:

Just saying