Si se pluede

Growing up in the 60s I knew I had cousins in California, I new Disneyland was there, and I knew I wanted to go! I also remember my parents starting to talk about a man with a funny name. For some reason this man didn't want us to eat California grapes. There was a great level of respect in my parent's voice when they spoke about this man. Grapes disappeared from our home. We were told to pray for this man from California with the funny name. Years later I would find out, this man was Cezar Chavez. Born in a small adobe home in Yuma, Arizona in 1927. His family became migrant farm workers in California after losing their small farm in the Depression. He served in the navy in WWII. He returned to the fields until becoming a community organizer in 1952. In 1962 he confounded the National Farm Workers Association, later to become the United Farm Workers. In 1965 he led a 5 year strike and nationwide grape boycott to improve the rights and lives of migrant workers. In 1966 he gained the support of Senator Robert Kennedy. In 1968 he went on a 25 day hunger strike for the principles of non violence. There would be many more hunger strikes, influenced by the Catholic tradition of doing penance and by Gandhi's fasts and emphasis of nonviolence. He was a student of Gandi and Jesus. He lived his live based on the principles of nonviolence, love for others, social justice, and the non accumulation of wealth. At the end of his fast in 1968 he said these words: “I am convinced that the truest act of courage, the strongest act of humanity, is to sacrifice ourselves for others in a totally nonviolent struggle for justice. To be human is to suffer for others. God help us to be human.” He was a tireless worker for civil rights, workers rights and the dignity of all people. He died in Arizona in 1993, not far from his boyhood home, with little accumulations, still fighting for those rights, that dignity. The United Farm Workers have a slogan, "Si se pluede", "yes we can". With God's help we truly can be human. Si se puede!

Unfair Labor Practice

Backus Nurses were in the paper again because we filed Unfair Labor Practice charges against Backus Management. 

It occurred to me, I know what that means, but do others?

The decision to file these charges are made by the Negotiations Committee on advice of our lawyers, field rep, and organizers.  Let me take a minute to explain labor law very briefly.  Remember, I am not an expert, but all of the committee is learning fast.

Labor laws in the United States protect workers rights and facilitate the relationship between organized labor and management.  The National Labor Relations Board oversees and administers these laws. If one side feels the other side has violated the law, they file an Unfair Labor Practice charge.  The NLRB then investigates and if they find merit in the case they prosecute. Often, the NLRB convinces one side to give in, but if not, a trial is held. Any settlement, whether by agreement or trial, seeks to "make whole" the situation. 

As an example, if a union member had been fired illegally, the person would be rehired with back pay. 

Since most charges are filed against management, and few against labor, most labor people would like to see stronger laws and penalties. 

This past summer I testified before the NLRB in Washington about the intimidation and stall tactics that Backus management took against us during our organizing campaign.  It was part of an effort to strengthen these laws.

 

The NLRB found sufficient evidence to prosecute and Backus management settled prior to trial.  They had to post on the hospital intranet that they would not violate the law. They had done the same after breaking the same law when guards organized a few months earlier.  Because both groups were successful in their organizing election, the situation was already "made whole".  Had either group been defeated, the NLRB would have ordered a new vote. 

Recently the hospital agreed to our use of conference room #1 for union negotiation update meetings.  They did so because we had filed charges against them due to union discrimination.  (the rooms are used by other groups, such as the Boy Scouts, yet the hospital refused to let us meet there)  When it became clear that the NLRB felt we had a strong case management gave in and we then withdrew our charge. We will start having meetings there soon.

We also filed a charge due to the hospital's refusal to provide insurance information as required by law.  This information is needed for us to develop proposals.  It appears that the hospital may now be ready to give us that information to avoid a trial and if they do we will withdraw the charge.

Last week we filed another charge against management over the shared rewards program and I blogged extensively about it in last Thursday's blog.
We will continue to monitor management's behavior.  Whenever they violate our rights we will file charges.

Come see for yourself

When workers vote to form a union and begin bargaining a contract management is prohibited from changing any practices until agreement on a contract is reached. When changes are made that either grant a benefit or take one away before the contract is reached it is called a Unilateral Change in Working Conditions. While we have serious concerns about the current Pay for Performance system, it is the current practice. When management announced they would not give nurses their deserved raises or bonus until our union agreed to specific contract language they committed an unfair labor practice.

The three components of the shared reward program are the practice at the hospital and by law must be continued until there is a contract in place.
What's worse, they are still enforcing the evaluation portion of the program! Management is trying to use the raises we count on as leverage and they are breaking the law to do it!
When we questioned management on this their attorney said the evaluations were separate and not connected to raises. Management claims that the raises in the past were in no way connected to your score on your evaluation.

However, hospital spokesman Shawn Mawhiney said Monday that the bonuses and other rewards are given to employees as part of a pay-for-performance system. "Both the performance of the individual employee as well as that of the hospital are factors in determining how much each employee receives, along with the number of hours worked", he said.
 
So.....which one is it? 
 
"This isn't some new practice," said Lisa Currier, registered nurse. "The hospital has given bonuses to employees every year. By changing that practice they're breaking the law. This is as illegal as changing the policy for overtime."

Another nurse, Donna Callicut, said the issue was discussed as part of the contact negotiations between the union and the hospital. Talks are scheduled to resume next week.

"I was at the bargaining table when we made it clear to management that we expect them to continue the practice of giving bonuses to everyone based on hours worked," she said.
 
Shawn Mawhiney also said,"We offered them exactly what other employees were getting, and they refused," he said. The hospital would not award the bonuses solely on the basis of hours worked, he added.
"You can't have one without the other," he said. "We're not going to apologize for asking the nurses to live up to the same standards we set for everyone else in the organization."

 
The "same standards we set for everyone else" is, according to the hospital's lawyer, to continue the system we have, and that would be the only compensation for nurses for the three year contract if we would agree to it. It wasn't a serious offer and it did not address the bonuses at all. 
 
We have given a detailed wage proposal.  It can be accessed by a link on this blog and at backusunited.org.  To this date, the hospital has not responded to our wage proposal nor have they offered a proposal of their own.
 
When we started negotiations we attempted to hold them at the hospital so that nurses could attend and watch and listen for themselves. 
 
The hospital refused.
 
However, negotiations are open. 

Come see for yourself

It is times like these when it becomes crystal clear why every nurse should be at negotiations. You have the opportunity to hear for yourself management's position. If you have questions there will be time for everyone to get answers. Over one hundred nurses have come out, many for multiple sessions. Next week we have a marathon session of bargaining and we will certainly be talking about the bonuses as well as other economic issues and seniority. Come out and be a part of shaping our contract. Courtyard by Marriott
5:15pm – 10pm
Monday November 28th
Tuesday November 29th
Wednesday, November 30th Come in for 15 minutes or the whole session but come out and support the nurses sitting at the bargaining table.

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is this week. There are certain times in the year that it seems natural to pause, think about where we have been, where we are, where we're going, reevaluate life's direction, and give thanks for our blessings. Truth be told, we'd all be better off if we did this more often. I am blessed in a belief in a Higher Power, whom I choose to call God, who loves me the way I am, who gives me the grace (puts people and situations in my life) to become a more loving person, who gives me free will to choose my own path, and who cheers me on and watches over me. If I remember this and base my life on it I do alright. I am thankful for my family and extended family, I am surrounded by loving sons, grandchildren, cousins, nieces, nephews, and in laws. Mostly, I'm thankful for Michelle, my best friend, who has somehow survived over 36 years of being married to me. I am also thankful to have found nursing, it is more than a profession, it is a vocation. It's what I'm supposed to be doing at this point in my life. Nursing has a responsibility to constantly evaluate itself, correct course when needed, and move forward. It should involve nurses in decisions, it should be patient focused, it should nurture new nurses, it should promote the idea that the bedside nurse is at the pinnacle of the profession, not the starting point. 18 months ago I was unhappy with the direction of nursing at Backus. Today I have hope. I am thankful to the American labor movement and especially the people of AFT Connecticut. They have guided us, given us the resources needed, and yet we retain our autonomy. Our cause is to correct the direction of Backus nursing and we own that cause. I am thankful to my coworkers who have dedicated themselves to this cause. You have risked your livelihood because you believe in nursing and are willing to fight for it. I am thankful for all the support given to the organizing and negotiations committees. We have asked a lot, you have responded. I recognize you have busy lives. I wish I could say thank you, we are done asking, but I cannot. There is more to do, there always is. We will continue to ask and you will respond, because of who you are, loving, caring people. You are nurses. I am thankful for the trust so many have placed in me. It is a wonderful compliment. I recognize how special this is and what a responsibility it is. My hope is that because of our work now, sometime in the future, a nurse will pick up on a subtle change in a patient's condition and that will lead to a good outcome. That nurse will be there and have the experience needed to catch the change because we improved conditions so that she wanted to stay at the bedside, was encouraged to stay at the bedside, and was rewarded for staying at the bedside. It is my hope that this will be the norm, not the exception. Happy Thanksgiving.

It must be the songs

Management doesn't seem to like organized labor very much.

At Backus they hired Jackson Lewis, a proud and prestigious law firm, one of the top union busting firms in the country, and one of the most expensive, to fight the security union.  After spending millions in the fight and losing to about 30 guards and support workers, Backus hired Jackson Lewis again and spent several million to fight their own nurses.  The nurses won.

I don't understand.  Management is always talking about how important it is to listen to workers but when workers try to establish a voice, management fights them.

There can be one and only one answer.

It's our songs.

Labor has cool songs, management doesn't, and they're jealous.  It's the only thing that makes sense. 

I kind of feel for them, I mean we do have great songs.

I Don't want your millions mister, Solidarity Forever, Which side are you on, Union Maid, Union Song, World's best Union Song, Roll the Union On, Joe Hill, There is power in the Union, Look for the Union Label, and more.

Management has.....well, nothing.  I searched and searched.  I did find one scene from Blazing Saddles with a work song that may help.  I hope so, then maybe management won't be so angry.