One Group of RNs Launches Public Awareness Campaign

Published

somebody here jokingly mentioned we should all put signs out on our lawns for RN unity. Well, NJ RNs actually are doing it! And much more.....

For immediate release:

NJ Nurses Launch Massive Public Campaign for Fair Contract

by Genie Abrams

New York State Nurses Association

"Contract Now!" In New Jersey, that's the rallying cry on land, sea, and air.

The nurses at Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point are making sure everyone knows they need a contract-one that guarantees safe staffing levels and decent working conditions for the bargaining unit's 400 RNs.

They're shouting it at rallies, plastering it on posters, planting it on lawn signs, and flying it from banners behind airplanes that buzz the beaches and parks of the Jersey shore. It's been the subject of billboards, advertisements, flyers, newspaper stories, and even sermons. "It's the hot topic for everybody down here," said Laura Kennedy, a nursing representative for NYSNA in New Jersey. "Everywhere you go, people are talking about the nurses and the hospital."

JoAnne Gramlich, bargaining unit chair, puts the problem simply."I'm a preceptor in the ER, and I know that we have way too few experienced nurses there. It's the same in other units, too. The high turnover rate is absolutely caused by burnout and poor staffing, and we're letting the public know it."

Back in June, the nurses union, the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) hired a small airplane to fly over the crowded beaches near the hospital, dragging a banner proclaiming, "Shore Memorial Nurses: Contract Now!" That was so well received that they hired a plane to alternately drag two banners every weekend from August through Labor Day. One banner was the original. The other said, "Shore Memorial Unfair to Nurses!""We had lots of feedback from the banner-planes," said Lisa Ruiz, a NYSNA organizer. "People were calling the hospital to ask why the nurses don't have a contract." Negotiations for the unit's first contract began in June 2001, and management has been stalling ever since.

Ads in the Fast Lane:

The public-awareness campaign quickly spread to the busy highways near the shore.

The hospital has rented billboards for several months, proclaiming that "The Best" nurses work at Shore Memorial. The RNs wanted to rent a billboard, too, saying, "Why are Shore Memorial nurses worried? Because inadequate staffing puts patient at risk." The first billboard company, however, turned the union down. The reason: it didn't want to offend one of its biggest clients--Shore Memorial Hospital.

"It was frustrating that the billboard company wanted to promote only the hospital's side of the story," said NYSNA nursing representative Laura Kennedy, "but this didn't deter us from trying to get the truth to the public." She quickly found another billboard company.

On August 21, two huge, full-color billboards identical to the rejected one went up over busy New Jersey highways."Those billboards really made us famous," Ruiz said. "When the American Federation of Teachers had their annual convention here this summer and saw the billboards, the teachers asked us for NYSNA T-shirts to take home with them. Now everybody in the Cape Atlantic Central Labor Council is wearing them."

Echoing the message on the billboards, lawn signs supporting the nurses have sprouted like dandelions. "We got the idea for the lawn signs because this is an election year. Once people started seeing them on the nurses' lawns, they called us asking if they could have some, too," Kennedy said.

On the Side of the Angels:

Local clergy members also took notice. Ruiz was invited to speak at a meeting of the county's Methodist pastors, and Ventnor City United Methodist Church and others now have NYSNA RN signs up on their lawns.

"Reverend Clancy Wilson, at Ventor United Methodist, is an active member of the Labor/Religion Coalition and he always attends our rallies. The clergy sees this as a moral issue," Ruiz said.

Meanwhile, union members wanted the local news media to take notice, too. They tried to take an ad in a local daily paper. The answer was "yes" --- until the paper saw the ad. Then, like the first billboard company, it refused to accept it.

"We thought we were really out of luck then," Ruiz said. "We did take two ads in a weekly, but we thought we'd never get our side of the story into the dailies." But by then, the overwhelming presence of the campaign had become a legitimate news item. Less than two weeks later, the same paper that had refused NYSNA's paid ad sent a reporter to talk to the union about the issues involved in negotiations.

"The story was very fair, and presented both sides," Gramlich said. "Best of all, newspaper stories-unlike paid ads-are FREE."

Leaflet Your Board Members - Meet New People:

The public-awareness campaign continues with leafleting at the hospital board members' businesses. In August, the RNs stood outside an amusement park that is owned by a hospital board member, handing out flyers explaining their position and talking with hundreds of the park's customers. In September, they did the same at the business of another board member--a liquor store just outside Ocean City.

Two New Developments:

One major development since the public-awareness campaign began is that the National Labor Relations Board has agreed to hear NYSNA's charges that the hospital has been unfairly targeting pro-union nurses.

Shore RNs who are bargaining team members, NYSNA claims, have been harassed, "counseled," and even threatened with discharge because of their union activities.

The charges will be heard on January 21, 2003. Also, the former CEO of the hospital, who had been there for 25 years, was abruptly replaced this summer. The new CEO, Albert Gutierrez, began his career as an X-ray technician and has worked his way up through the ranks. The RNs are cautiously optimistic that he will be more reasonable than his predecessor.

One of his first acts as CEO was to attend a negotiations session (the former CEO never attended) and announce that settling the contract was a top priority for him.

"We're hopeful now that we can get this contract done," Gramlich said. "We think all the publicity has had an effect and if we all stick together, we can do it." Ruiz added, "We're definitely not going away. We'll keep the pressure on until we get a good first contract for these RNs, who've worked so hard for it."

http://www.nysna.org/publications/report/2002/oct_nov/campaign.htm

Doesnt this just want to make you stand up & cheer these nurses on? When these unified nurses obtain what they need in their workplace and have it in a written, legally binding contract, they will have raised the standard and the bar for their entire area. Other facilities in the area will have to come up to meet it if they want to remain competitive & keep their own staff from defecting to Shore Memorial. And the trickle-down effect will facilitate improvements for RNs in the the entire area because of what this group of RNs at this one facility did in unity.

THATS what being part of a nurses union is all about. THIS is an important part of what my membership dues are spent on & I gladly support that because when one group of nurses succeeds in improving her workplace conditions and conditions of employment, we ALL benefit.

Comments or Words of Encouragement for these nurses can be sent to:

[email protected]

In the subject line, write "Shore Memorial Nurses"

:)

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After posting this article on the general discussion page, there was some response by others interested in having a grass-roots, national planting of nurses lawn signs (that sounds soooo funny!) to get the message in front of the public more.

Im checking into how to do that. So I'd like to know - if there is a way to get a mass of lawn signs made up & made available for inexpensive purchase to cover the cost, would anybody purchase one & participate in the movement?

If people really want to try a national campaign with this, I can check into getting the signs made available.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

After posting this article on the general discussion page, there was some response by others interested in having a grass-roots, national planting of nurses lawn signs (that sounds soooo funny!) to get the message in front of the public more.

Im checking into how to do that. So I'd like to know - if there is a way to get a mass of lawn signs made up & made available for inexpensive purchase to cover the cost, would anybody purchase one & participate in the movement?

If people really want to try a national campaign with this, I can check into getting the signs made available.

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JT...think l posted a reply on the other thread,...if you get this going, l would post a sign and even promote it....LR

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JT...think l posted a reply on the other thread,...if you get this going, l would post a sign and even promote it....LR

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Or even a sign for the auto... either legible form the back window or a bumper sticker?

Let me know how I can help.

Maybe a great candle lighting (not joking)?

B.

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Or even a sign for the auto... either legible form the back window or a bumper sticker?

Let me know how I can help.

Maybe a great candle lighting (not joking)?

B.

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remember these amazing nurses from NJ?

All their hard work & solidarity paid off.

Update:

Shore Memorial RNs Reach Tentative Agreement

December, 2002

The 450 RNs at Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point, New Jersey have their first tentative contract. After negotiating for almost a year and a half, both sides were satisfied that a fair, enforceable contract had been reached. A ratification vote by the nurses is set for December 13 and 16. Lorraine Seidel, director of NYSNA's Economic & General Welfare Program, said, "We are proud to represent these dedicated nurses, who showed what RNs can achieve when they unite to speak with one voice. This is the first, but not the last, collective bargaining contract for New Jersey's registered nurses." Bargaining unit chair Joanne Gramlich added, "These negotiations have always been about providing the best care for patients and the best working conditions for nurses."

NYSNA - a constituent of the American Nurses Association, founding member of its labor arm, the United American Nurses (UAN) - an affiliate of the AFL-CIO.

http://www.nysna.org/

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Update:

Shore Memorial RNs Begin Reaping Benefits of New Pact

Somers Point, N.J., Jan. 29, 2003 - Shore Memorial Hospital nurses this month have begun receiving the first salary hikes under their new contract-the first ever negotiated for New Jersey RNs by the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA). The paychecks of Jan. 5 and Jan. 19 reflected average increases of 4.76% on their base salary. In addition, they have been receiving their new shift differentials, and a pool of $20,000 has been established for reimbursement for their continuing education activities.

The three-year contract includes another benefit long sought by the nurses: creation of a staffing committee consisting of equal numbers of management and union representatives. The committee's mission is to jointly establish safe staffing levels for Shore Memorial. Once set, the facility must enforce them, because the levels will be enforceable through arbitration.

"The salary increases are important because they'll help to staunch the flow of nurses out of Shore Memorial," said Joanne Gramlich, chair of the NYSNA bargaining unit at the hospital. High turnover and short-staffing had been one of the biggest problems at Shore Memorial and was a major reason why the nurses wanted to organize. They voted for NYSNA to be their union in April of 2001 and began negotiating the contract three months later. The agreement was ratified in December 2002.

Laura Kennedy, NYSNA's nursing representative for the 430 RNs at the hospital, said, "The staffing committee was something all the nurses wanted. The vast majority of our nurses are from this area and their patients are their neighbors and friends. Nurses were being assigned far too many patients to provide the kind of care those patients need and deserve. With the staffing committee in place, nurses at last have an equal and enforceable voice in decisions regarding patient-to-nurse ratios. That makes Shore Memorial patients safe, and improves quality care."

NYSNA has more than 34,000 members in New York and New Jersey. "The association is very proud of the Shore Memorial nurses for their persistence in winning this great contract," said Lorraine Seidel, director of NYSNA's Economic & General Welfare Program. "This is our first, but not our last, bargaining unit in New Jersey."

To celebrate the implementation of the new contract, the RNs are holding a buffet supper-party at Bubba Mac's Shack, 520 Bay Ave. in Somers Point on Friday, January 31 starting at 7 p.m.

NYSNA is the professional association for registered nurses in New York with more than 34,000 members statewide. A multipurpose organization, NYSNA fosters high standards of nursing education and practice and works to advance the profession through legislative activity and collective bargaining. NYSNA is a constituent of the American Nurses Association (ANA) and its labor arm, the United American Nurses (UAN), which is an affiliate of the AFL-CIO.

http://www.nysna.org/news/press/pr2003/012903.htm

Contact: Genie Abrams: 518-782-9400, Ext. 224

email: [email protected]

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Right on. Makes me proud to be a professional nurse.

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