Nurses at Osceola Regional Medical Center in Kissimmee, Fla., Joins NNU

OsceolaRN · Nov 21, 2010

We have a "castle law" here in Florida as well, ominous. I made it clear to the punks who were attempting to speak to me at work that a visit to my house would not be a welcome one.

1199SEIU was especially aggressive in visiting the homes of the recalcitrant tech's and RT's, who seemed mostly outraged that anyone would visit their homes.

OsceolaRN · Nov 21, 2010

It's not ad "odd twist," as you say to claim in a press release that say's 92% of the RN's at a particular hospital voted for union representation when I doubt the general public, in light of generally decreasing union membership throughout the country, know that it's not 92% of the total RN's voted in favour, but rather something closer to 64%.

There's nothing "patently absurd" about lying to people. The hospital was bound, via the neutrality agreement in place, to not engage in negative behaviour, and having a union rep tell two people to not vote if they were going to vote against the union would seem to be a violation of of the spirit of whatever neutrality agreement that was in place at the time. It's not as if I know what was in the agreement, since it was kept secret, but the hospital attorney did, and the information was passed along for a complaint.

nicurn001 · Nov 21, 2010

If it makes you happy keep on clutching onto the straw that only 64% of the total number of nurses who could vote , voted for the union , but even that number is viewed by most as a massive endorsement by an electorate of any question .But the reality is that election results are based upon the actual votes placed , for there is no way to extrapollate how the none voters would have voted .It is also a sign of a failure of the anti campaigners to get out their vote .If this pool of non voters were as commited as you to vote , why didn't they , as has been pointed out even if some were advised not to vote , what actually stopped them ( I know if it had been me , that advise would have been ignored and I would have been more determined to vote !! )there were no armed guards at the polling place stopping potential voters were there ?.

allnurses Guide · Nov 21, 2010

Texas Castle Doctrine or Texas Castle Bill or Texas Castle Law

http://www.rc123.com/texas_castle_doctrine.html

nicurn001 · Nov 21, 2010

The castle law does not seem to be relevant in the case of any solicitor ( which a union organiser canvessing is ) coming to your door ,particularly if they are acting within the law .

Whilst I believe the adage your home is your castle , I also accept solicitors are legally able to come to my door , at which point I can choose either to listen to their solicitation or send them on their way .This point comes back to the idea espoused by anti unionist that nurses are strong enough as individuals to stand up to managment , yet too weak to stand up to union organisers ( I'm sorry but that arguement both defies logic and is laughable in its denegration of nurses ability to express themselves ).

Chico David, BSN, RN · Nov 21, 2010

We have a "castle law" here in Florida as well, ominous. I made it clear to the punks who were attempting to speak to me at work that a visit to my house would not be a welcome one.
1199SEIU was especially aggressive in visiting the homes of the recalcitrant tech's and RT's, who seemed mostly outraged that anyone would visit their homes.

The repeated mention of this so-called "castle law" here just cries out for a little more exploration. For those who don't know or don't want to take the time to follow herring's link above, this is a law that speaks to the right to use deadly force against someone who is attempting to rob you, break into your home, attack you physically etc.

Now our union rarely uses home visits, believing that that they are more likely than not to be counter-productive in many cases. But the fact that you mention the law at all in the context of talking about someone visiting your home to talk about the union implies that you might think it justified to kill someone for the crime of knocking on your door to talk to you. Anti-union people often want to paint union folks as violent or intimidating, but in my experience the actual infatuation with violence seems to be on the other side. And no, that law would not protect you if you shot someone just because they knocked on your door.

OsceolaRN · Nov 21, 2010

In my case I had made it abundantly clear to the union punks that I did not wish to have anyone visit my home under any circumstances. Given that I live in a gated community, if someone would have knocked at my door and refused to leave IMMEDIATELY when asked to do so, the castle law would apply.

Our nurse tech was personally visited by one of the punks, and woke up only 30 minutes after falling asleep. When she asked through the door who was there she was told it was someone from the union at the hospital. She opened the door and told them she had just gone to bed and was not interested in talking. The punk put his foot in the door and said it would only take a few minutes to talk. Again, she said that she was not interested, and yet again he asked for a few minutes. When he finally moved his foot from the door she closed it, and the AH said through the closed door that he would be back on Thursday. Yeah...nothing threatening or intimidating about that!

Ask Ken Gladney how violent the SEIU can be.

nicurn001 · Nov 25, 2010

Have watched the video , it does not show the beating of anybody , as in most cases like this only the aftermath of an alleged incident is shown .

From my searches I have been unable to find any details of the actual court case re. this incident and until or unless the charges are addressed in court we will not have a clear picture of what happened .

Simply for an opposing view of this event I provide this link http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/8/10/165718/484

allnurses Guide · Dec 4, 2010

more florida nurses join nnu

the 250 registered nurses at fawcett memorial hospital in port charlotte, fla., voted earlier this week to join the national nurses organizing committee-florida, an affiliate of national nurses united ([color=#dd0011]nnu).

this the fourth group of florida rns working at a facility owned by the hospital corporation of america (hca) hospital system to join nnu in the past two weeks. rns at community hospital in new port richey, [color=#dd0011]central florida regional hospital, and [color=#dd0011]osceola regional medical center in kissimmee also voted for union representation.

at all four hospitals, the rns say they are seeking a stronger voice for better nurse-to-patient ratios, improved procedures for floating assignment of rns beyond their areas of clinical expertise and experience and improved economic standards, including better retirement security in pensions and medical coverage....

http://blog.aflcio.org/2010/12/03/more-florida-nurses-join-nnu/

Chico David, BSN, RN · Dec 4, 2010

And One More!

On Thursday, the nurses at Largo-Indian Rocks Medical Center voted to join NNU. That makes 5 Florida hospitals in this run. There's one more election to come next week and then more to follow in the next few months. I had to good fortune to spend the last few days of the campaign at Largo and there are some truly impressive nurse leaders there. The growth in Florida is truly exciting and will build the kind of legislative strength that will make it possible to pass a ratio law and other protections for nurses and patients in the years to come.

freetopayattention · Dec 15, 2010

Are there LPN's working at these newly unionized facilities in Acute Care/Med-Surg etc? and how has their job duties changed over the last few years?

Chico David, BSN, RN · Dec 15, 2010

Are there LPN's working at these newly unionized facilities in Acute Care/Med-Surg etc? and how has their job duties changed over the last few years?

I know there are some, but don't know about the second part - I visited a couple of the hospitals there during the organizing process, but this union is an all-RN union so I did not get into real deep discussions with the LPNs.