CNA press releases

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Federal Court Sanctions Barstow Hospital for Failing­­ to Bargain With RNs...

A U.S. District Judge in Los Angeles Monday issued a federal injunction against Barstow Hospital, ordering it to cease and desist its flagrant violations of the collective bargaining rights of its registered nurses. Judge Christina Snyder issued the order in response to a complaint filed by the National Labor Relations Board following charges by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United that Barstow has repeatedly and systematically broken federal law with its refusal to hold contract talks and other abridgements of the RNs’ legal and democratic rights.

California Nurses Association/NNU
June 26, 2013

Government Imposes $4 Million Fine on Kaiser for Limiting Patients’ Access to Mental Health Care

$4 Million Fine is Second Largest in DMHC’s History; Action Results from Caregivers’ Complaint to the Agency 

Today, the California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) announced a $4 million fine against California’s largest HMO for limiting patients’ access to mental health care. The fine affirms the findings of an exhaustive complaint filed by Kaiser Permanente’s frontline mental health clinicians, who are represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW). In November of 2011, NUHW filed a 34-page complaint with the DMHC and has cooperated with the agency’s ensuing 19-month investigation.

June 25, 2013

Colorful March on Golden Gate Bridge Today Highlights Push to Stop Keystone XL Pipeline

New Report on Toxic Chemicals in Arkansas Tar Sands Spill Emphasizes Health Hazards Linked to Controversial KXL Project Say Nurses. SAN FRANCISCO – In one of the most colorful protests yet against the Keystone XL Pipeline project, registered nurses from coast to coast, joined by activists from the nation’s leading environmental groups and other Bay Area activists will march across the Golden Gate Bridge today. The message to the Obama administration – stop the pipeline before it’s too late for our planet and our health. Today’s huge march comes as a new report was released today in Washington identifying seven highly toxic compounds that can cause cancer and developmental problems found in a sample from the March tar sands oil spill near Mayflower, Ark.

National Nurses United
June 20, 2013

St. Joseph RNs Ratify New Contract at Apple Valley, Eureka, and Petaluma

Registered nurses at three St. Joseph Health System (SJHS) medical centers have ratified a new collective bargaining agreement that will strengthen patient care protections and provide affordable healthcare benefits, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United announced today. Nurses won improved safe RN-to-patient safe staffing ratio language, successfully fought off substantial increases to their healthcare premiums, and secured removal of a punitive “wellness” program that recent studies have concluded fail to provide promised savings while penalizing employees who may have chronic health problems.

National Nurses United
June 19, 2013

Affinity RNs Call for Halt to Flawed Electronic Medical Records System Scheduled to Go Live Friday

Affinity Medical Center RNs in Massillon, Ohio are calling on hospital officials to delay the planned June 21 implementation of the Cerner electronic medical records (EMR) system, until the hospital bargains with the nurses and proceeds in a safe manner. The direct-care RNs, represented by the National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC) in Ohio, an affiliate of National Nurses United (NNU), say that nurses, the primary users of the complex system, have had insufficient training, which will put patients at risk.

National Nurses United
June 18, 2013

Nurses to Host Golden Gate Bridge March June 20 - Call to Stop Keystone XL Pipeline, Austerity

SAN FRANCISCO – Registered nurses from across the U.S., joined by environmental and Bay Area community activists, will step up the call on the Obama administration to reject approval of the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline with a colorful march and rally at the Golden Gate Bridge Thursday, June 20.

June 14, 2013

Federal Court Orders Fallbrook Hospital to Return to Talks With Nurses, Rare Court Injunction Issued

In a rare legal sanction, a U.S. District Judge in San Diego has issued a federal injunction against Fallbrook Hospital in northern San Diego County, ordering the hospital to immediately return to contract negotiations with its registered nurses, and end its abridgement of the RNs’ legally protected rights. Judge Gonzalo Curiel issued the injunction late Tuesday. It is technically known as a “Section 10(j)” injunction intended to force Fallbrook to comply with federal labor law or face serious penalties that could range from fines to criminal contempt findings if it does not comply.

National Nurses United
June 12, 2013

Nurses to Host Colorful Golden Gate Bridge March June 20 With Call to Stop Keystone XL, Austerity

SAN FRANCISCO – Registered nurses from across the U.S., joined by environmental and Bay Area community activists, will step up the call on the Obama administration to reject approval of the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline with a colorful march and rally at the Golden Gate Bridge Thursday, June 20. The event will be hosted by National Nurses United which cites serious adverse concerns about the Pipeline, a project a prominent NASA scientist warns could mean “game over” on climate change.

National Nurses United
June 11, 2013

RNs Reach Tentative Agreements at St. Joseph Hospitals in Apple Valley, Eureka and Petaluma

Registered nurses at three St. Joseph Health System (SJHS) medical centers have achieved a tentative settlement with hospital officials on a new collective bargaining agreement that nurses say will bring significant improvements in patient care protections and healthcare security for nurses. The agreement between nurse and hospital negotiators, reached late Wednesday night, must still be ratified by the RNs who will vote on the proposals in membership meetings expected to be held next week. The new contracts which cover more than 1,100 RNs expire on May 31, 2016.

California Nurses Association
June 6, 2013

First Maine RN Leader Cokie Giles is Elected to National Nurses Union Presidency

Cokie Giles, RN, president of the Maine State Nurses Association (MSNA) and a working nurse at the endoscopy clinic at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, has been elected as one of the four presidents of National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC), one of the largest and fastest growing direct-care RN unions in the United States. Maine has been affiliated with the NNOC since 2006.

Maine State Nurses Association/NNOC/NNU
May 30, 2013