In 2011 I received a phone call from a fellow nurse. After some small talk, she told me she and others had been talking to a union organizer, and asked did I want to speak with him?
Without hesitation, my answer was yes.
When I started at my hospital 16 years prior it was a place I was proud of. The staff worked together, our manager cared about our wellbeing, the CEO knew us by name and would visit departments on a regular basis.
Most importantly, the patients and their families were the center point of our attention. Everything we did was to support them.
Yes, it was a business, but it was a hospital first.
By 2011 that had all changed.
There was a change in leadership. Managers came and went so fast they never had a chance to develop relationships with the people in their departments. The new CEO? On the rare occasion he came out of the office, people fled, fearful he was on an inspection tour to find something or someone in the wrong.
Supplies were cheapened and staffing became so short that we lacked the time to care for our patients properly.
We were no longer a hospital.
We were a business, that just happened to be a hospital.
Staff went from being a resource to being an operating expense.
Patients and their families were no longer the center point, profit was.
They had taken away our voice, and in so doing, has taken away the ability for us to fulfill our life’s mission.
So we joined together to regain our voice.
Things didn’t turn around immediately.
But this year in negotiations, the Backus Nurses packed the room with 1/3 of our members on a consistent basis.
Not bad for a group that works 24/7, so that the other 2/3 of the members were working at the time or sleeping in prep for the next shift.
That coming together has given us our voice back.
We are now partners at the table, not items on the menu.
The Betsy DeVos’ and Kotch brothers of this world would ask us to give up that voice.
They promise our union dues in return.
I have news for them.
For healthcare workers, for educators, for public employees, for all workers…….
It’s not about the money.
It’s about our voices.
It’s about our souls.
And they’re not for sale.
I’m sticking with the union, because these are my sisters and brothers.
Friday, June 29, 2018
Saturday, June 23, 2018
Answer the call
I’ve been busy with conventions and fundraisers, and rallies, and town committees, and lobbying.
I never intended to get this involved.
It was a call from a Mary Ann at work that got me involved in our organizing drive at my hospital.
It was a call from Jan that got me involved with AFT Connecticut.
It was a call from Susan that got me involved with my town’s DTC.
(Maybe I need to stop taking calls? LOL)
I’m definitely not alone.
Jan got involved when the state threatened to close the school she was teaching at.
She stepped up to president of her local when their president stepped down.
She became AFT Connecticut president and a national VP only when asked repeatedly.
Answering the call is what our parents and grandparents did when the world was threatened by Nazi Germany and Imperialist Japan.
Answering the call is what fills the roles of little league coaches and scout leaders and church leaders and town political leaders.
Thank God, people answer the call!
It’s easy to criticize those who answer the call to the many forms of public service.
We would be well served to remember why it is called “public service.”
No, people are not perfect.
Yes, some people abuse their positions or make decisions that leave our heads shaking.
But when ordinary people fail to answer the call, a vacuum is created.
And when a vacuum is created it is filled, often by someone or something that does not serve us well.
My grandfather was a longtime state senator in RI.
In fact, for years he was president of the state senate.
I didn’t understand the significance or the many gavels on the piano in the living room of this house.
Now I know, each gavel represented a session of the senate.
Each gavel represented his answering the call to public service.
My parents did not enter politics, but they voted in every election and taught us that this was our civic right and responsibility.
Each of us needs to find the level of public service engagement that is right for us.
For some it will be as a volunteer in a youth program, a church program, at local schools.
For some it will be as a union building rep, or serving on a town committee, or as president of the PTO, or a volunteer firefighter.
For some it will mean leadership in a union or in governmental politics.
But all of us should answer the call to vote.
People immigrated to this country, people died in wars, because they answered the call so that we could have this basic civic right and responsibility.
In Connecticut, we will hold a primary on August 14 and a general election on November 6.
Please register, please vote.
Please answer the call.
I never intended to get this involved.
It was a call from a Mary Ann at work that got me involved in our organizing drive at my hospital.
It was a call from Jan that got me involved with AFT Connecticut.
It was a call from Susan that got me involved with my town’s DTC.
(Maybe I need to stop taking calls? LOL)
I’m definitely not alone.
Jan got involved when the state threatened to close the school she was teaching at.
She stepped up to president of her local when their president stepped down.
She became AFT Connecticut president and a national VP only when asked repeatedly.
Answering the call is what our parents and grandparents did when the world was threatened by Nazi Germany and Imperialist Japan.
Answering the call is what fills the roles of little league coaches and scout leaders and church leaders and town political leaders.
Thank God, people answer the call!
It’s easy to criticize those who answer the call to the many forms of public service.
We would be well served to remember why it is called “public service.”
No, people are not perfect.
Yes, some people abuse their positions or make decisions that leave our heads shaking.
But when ordinary people fail to answer the call, a vacuum is created.
And when a vacuum is created it is filled, often by someone or something that does not serve us well.
My grandfather was a longtime state senator in RI.
In fact, for years he was president of the state senate.
I didn’t understand the significance or the many gavels on the piano in the living room of this house.
Now I know, each gavel represented a session of the senate.
Each gavel represented his answering the call to public service.
My parents did not enter politics, but they voted in every election and taught us that this was our civic right and responsibility.
Each of us needs to find the level of public service engagement that is right for us.
For some it will be as a volunteer in a youth program, a church program, at local schools.
For some it will be as a union building rep, or serving on a town committee, or as president of the PTO, or a volunteer firefighter.
For some it will mean leadership in a union or in governmental politics.
But all of us should answer the call to vote.
People immigrated to this country, people died in wars, because they answered the call so that we could have this basic civic right and responsibility.
In Connecticut, we will hold a primary on August 14 and a general election on November 6.
Please register, please vote.
Please answer the call.
Sunday, June 17, 2018
I ain’t afraid of no ghost
The Supreme Court decision on the Janus case has been expected for weeks now.
It could come out tomorrow, but it certainly will come out within the next week before the end of the Supreme Court’s session.
It is widely expected that the court will rule against working men and women.
It will because the makeup of the Court is more conservative than progressive.
This country will be “Right to Work” for public sector workers and then the attention of the Billionaire Class will turn to private sector workers.
Don’t be fooled by the term “Right to Work.”
We call it “Right to Work for Less.”
It has nothing to do with your right to work, it is the legal ruling that is meant to weaken the role of unions and the voice of workers.
It attempts to do this by making the payment of union dues optional.
The Billionaire Class believes this will bankrupt unions and stifle the voice of workers.
But workers have been preparing for this ruling for over a year.
We understand that even with fully funded unions, our financial resources are dwarfed by the financial resources of the Billionaire Class.
We cannot compete financially with them.
But what the Billionaire Class fails to understand is that the strength of workers does not lie in our finances, our strength lies in our solidarity.
And the Billionaire Class cannot take that away form us.
This country was founded when workers, tied of having no voice, tired of being ruled by a king and those with the money and power, rose us and demanded that voice.
The recent teacher strikes in states that are already “Right to Work for Less” have reminded us that this basic human need to exercise our voices cannot be taken away when we stand united.
So I am glad we are preparing for this court decision. It has increased our solidarity by increasing our conversations with one another about our need to stand as one.
I ain’t afraid of no ghost and I ain’t afraid of no Billionaire Class.
I stand in solidarity with my sister and brother workers, and together we are strong.
It could come out tomorrow, but it certainly will come out within the next week before the end of the Supreme Court’s session.
It is widely expected that the court will rule against working men and women.
It will because the makeup of the Court is more conservative than progressive.
This country will be “Right to Work” for public sector workers and then the attention of the Billionaire Class will turn to private sector workers.
Don’t be fooled by the term “Right to Work.”
We call it “Right to Work for Less.”
It has nothing to do with your right to work, it is the legal ruling that is meant to weaken the role of unions and the voice of workers.
It attempts to do this by making the payment of union dues optional.
The Billionaire Class believes this will bankrupt unions and stifle the voice of workers.
But workers have been preparing for this ruling for over a year.
We understand that even with fully funded unions, our financial resources are dwarfed by the financial resources of the Billionaire Class.
We cannot compete financially with them.
But what the Billionaire Class fails to understand is that the strength of workers does not lie in our finances, our strength lies in our solidarity.
And the Billionaire Class cannot take that away form us.
This country was founded when workers, tied of having no voice, tired of being ruled by a king and those with the money and power, rose us and demanded that voice.
The recent teacher strikes in states that are already “Right to Work for Less” have reminded us that this basic human need to exercise our voices cannot be taken away when we stand united.
So I am glad we are preparing for this court decision. It has increased our solidarity by increasing our conversations with one another about our need to stand as one.
I ain’t afraid of no ghost and I ain’t afraid of no Billionaire Class.
I stand in solidarity with my sister and brother workers, and together we are strong.
Sunday, June 10, 2018
Do we stand together, or stand alone?
When we nurses at Backus Hospital decided that the conditions for our patients had gotten bad enough we complained to management.
When multiple individual complaints and pleading brought no change, we decided to speak with one voice.
It was not easy. Management faught us every step of the way, but we stood together because we had tried standing separately to no avail.
Management spent around a million dollars trying to convince 400 nurses not to unionize.
A million dollars!
Why?
All we wanted was a voice so we could care for our patients properly.
They claimed they were looking our for us nurses, protecting us from an outside entity (the union) that would take our money and our voice.
What they failed to understand is that the only outside entity trying to take from us was our own management.
“The Union” is not a thing.
It is not an “outside entity.”
It is not a “third party.”
The union is a group of workers standing together to work collectively on things that are of importance to us, because we realize that unless we stand together, management has all the power.
And that’s why management was willing to spend a million dollars to keep us from unionizing, they want to retain power and control. (Also, remember this, they were not spending money out of their own pockets, they were spending hospital funds.)
A similar situation is playing out across our nation.
So called “Right to Work” groups are telling workers, “drop out of the union, save your union dues, give yourself a raise.”
Again, why?
Is it because they care about workers?
They care about power.
They know when they have power they can write the rules to favor themselves.
Like the nurses at Backus, all workers have a decision to make, a decision that has been ours to make since we started being employed by someone else.
Do we stand together or do we stand alone.
When multiple individual complaints and pleading brought no change, we decided to speak with one voice.
It was not easy. Management faught us every step of the way, but we stood together because we had tried standing separately to no avail.
Management spent around a million dollars trying to convince 400 nurses not to unionize.
A million dollars!
Why?
All we wanted was a voice so we could care for our patients properly.
They claimed they were looking our for us nurses, protecting us from an outside entity (the union) that would take our money and our voice.
What they failed to understand is that the only outside entity trying to take from us was our own management.
“The Union” is not a thing.
It is not an “outside entity.”
It is not a “third party.”
The union is a group of workers standing together to work collectively on things that are of importance to us, because we realize that unless we stand together, management has all the power.
And that’s why management was willing to spend a million dollars to keep us from unionizing, they want to retain power and control. (Also, remember this, they were not spending money out of their own pockets, they were spending hospital funds.)
A similar situation is playing out across our nation.
So called “Right to Work” groups are telling workers, “drop out of the union, save your union dues, give yourself a raise.”
Again, why?
Is it because they care about workers?
They care about power.
They know when they have power they can write the rules to favor themselves.
Like the nurses at Backus, all workers have a decision to make, a decision that has been ours to make since we started being employed by someone else.
Do we stand together or do we stand alone.
Saturday, June 2, 2018
Citizen Carla
Yesterday I had the privilege of attending the naturalization ceremony of a dear friend, Carla Borlaug, with her family and friends.
Carla is a loving mother, wife and friend, and the Unites States is much, much better that she chose to become one of our citizens. We are better for it.
The road to citizenship is long and difficult.
The 54 people who took the oath yesterday had to work for years to get to that point and did not take these steps lightly.
I would think that they now know more about this country and what it stands for than most Americans who were born in this country.
The ceremony was moving.
54 candidates and their families and friends crowded the federal courtroom.
When the judge entered the room we stood.
The federal immigration agent presented the candidates to the judge as being qualified.
Then Carla and the other candidates stood, raised their right hands, and took the oath of citizenship, pledging to protect the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
Then, after just pledging to “renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty,” the elderly judge spoke to our newest citizens, telling them that his own parents were immigrants to this country.
He offered this advise:
Vote and be involved in your government.
Learn English as best you can but remember your native language and culture and pass them on to your children and grandchildren.
Take every opportunity that your time and resources allow to learn.
Practice the religion of your choice or none at all.
Exercise your new rights including the right to peacefully protest.
I was proud at that moment to be an American.
Carla took no oath to any elected official or ideology.
Her oath was to the Constitution.
In this area of heightened nationalism, this elderly judge and these new citizens were a refreshing reminder that we do not pledge allegiance to a nation, a person, a party, or an ideology.
We pledge allegiance to an ideal.
Liberty and Justice for all.
Congratulations Carla.
Thank you for the reminder.
Carla is a loving mother, wife and friend, and the Unites States is much, much better that she chose to become one of our citizens. We are better for it.
The road to citizenship is long and difficult.
The 54 people who took the oath yesterday had to work for years to get to that point and did not take these steps lightly.
I would think that they now know more about this country and what it stands for than most Americans who were born in this country.
The ceremony was moving.
54 candidates and their families and friends crowded the federal courtroom.
When the judge entered the room we stood.
The federal immigration agent presented the candidates to the judge as being qualified.
Then Carla and the other candidates stood, raised their right hands, and took the oath of citizenship, pledging to protect the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
Then, after just pledging to “renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty,” the elderly judge spoke to our newest citizens, telling them that his own parents were immigrants to this country.
He offered this advise:
Vote and be involved in your government.
Learn English as best you can but remember your native language and culture and pass them on to your children and grandchildren.
Take every opportunity that your time and resources allow to learn.
Practice the religion of your choice or none at all.
Exercise your new rights including the right to peacefully protest.
I was proud at that moment to be an American.
Carla took no oath to any elected official or ideology.
Her oath was to the Constitution.
In this area of heightened nationalism, this elderly judge and these new citizens were a refreshing reminder that we do not pledge allegiance to a nation, a person, a party, or an ideology.
We pledge allegiance to an ideal.
Liberty and Justice for all.
Congratulations Carla.
Thank you for the reminder.
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