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MA Nurses Union Pushes for Pay Curbs, Financial Disclosures at Hospitals

An activist nurses union is pushing for legislation in Massachusetts that would create greater transparency regarding hospital prices, executive compensation and investment of assets. The Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), affiliated with the National Nurses United, supports legislation, HB 3844, that would require disclosure of hospital profit margins, executive pay, and how organizations invest assets overseas. The union is also pushing for a voter ballot initiative as a backup to the legislative route.

Ron Shinkman
June 13, 2014

Radio Ad Blasts Excessive Pay of MA Hospital CEOs

A radio advertisement was launched on Wednesday blasting hospital CEOs in Massachusetts for their excessive salaries and compensation packages, while also pointing out the millions of dollars stashed in accounts in the Cayman Islands. The advertisement was released while hospital CEOs gather together at the Chatham Bars Inn for the Massachusetts Hospital Association annual meeting in an effort to show the disconnect between hospital CEOs and their desire to provide adequate patient care.

Nicholas Handy, GoLocalWorcester.com
June 12, 2014

Nurses Group Targets CEO Pay

While hospital executives from across Massachusetts meet in Chatham this week, a nurses union is running a radio ad that criticizes Massachusetts hospital chiefs' compensation packages and calls for greater transparency of hospital finances. The ad campaign started Tuesday and will run through Friday, David Schildmeier, spokesman for the Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United, said.

Cynthia McCormick, Cape Cod Times
June 12, 2014

Nurses Union Steps Up Advocacy for Two Ballot Questions

The Massachusetts Nurses Association is ramping up its efforts to build support for two ballot questions that would change the way hospitals operate. In one example, the MNA polled 100 doctors who regularly care for patients in Massachusetts hospitals. Of the responses, 58 percent said they have seen executives cut valuable patient care services in order to increase a hospital's operating margin, and 70 percent said they believed greater transparency of hospital finances would help protect those programs.

Jessica Bartlett - Boston Business Journal
June 11, 2014

Nurses Attend Rally to Push Support for Patient Lifting Bill

It was an early day for Julie Perry and other nurses of the National Nurses United in Kansas City. Many members got up between 4 and 5 a.m. to catch the 5:30 a.m. bus to the Capitol. Their mission? To protest “right to work,” lobby state legislators to vote the measure down, and find support for a bill that would create requirements to make lifting patients easier. After a brief training seminar at Bones Lounge & Restaurant in downtown Jefferson City, members of the nurses union split up into several groups to visit 35 legislators in an hour, said Jan Rodolfo, a nurse and union representative.

By Casey Bischel, News Tribune
June 10, 2014

Safe RN Ratios for Illinois!

With less than 10 days notice, nurses from around Chicago descended on the Health and Human Services Committee hearing of our IL Ratio Bill HB 0012! 9 nurses testified, speaking eloquently and from the heart about how unsafe staffing is hurting their patients. Many more were prepared to testify had we had more time.

National Nurses United
June 9, 2014

Nurses tour petroleum coke facilities, seek ban until piles enclosed

A national nurses union and Southeast Side activists will call on Mayor Rahm Emanuel today to ban petroleum coke in Chicago city limits until the piles of dust are enclosed. National Nurses United says in a news release that an Emanuel-backed ordinance the City Council passed last month to regulate storage of petroleum coke doesn't go far enough.

Chicago Tribune
June 9, 2014

RNs, County Workers Halt Cook Co. Board of Commissioners Pres. Preckwinkle’s Pension “Reform”

Quick action from all County workers opposed to pension cuts stopped passage of pension legislation. In a last minute move, Toni Preckwinkle, the President of the Cook County Board went to Springfield the last two weeks of May with an entourage of lobbyists to ram her pension reform package through in the final hours of the session. Preckwinkle, accompanied by leaders and lobbyists from the larger County unions, attempted to convince state politicians to cut County pensions in a last minute appeal.

National Nurses United
June 9, 2014

In Chicago, nurses take up fight against petcoke piles

“Stunning, just stunning, just stunning,” said Sheilah Garland, shaking her head as she stared out the window of the bus rolling along a dirt road next to towering black piles of petroleum coke on Chicago’s Southeast Side. As an organizer of National Nurses United, a labor union representing about 6,000 nurses in Chicago and 185,000 nationwide, Garland has seen a lot. She represents nurses working in grueling and traumatic situations on a daily basis. And the union has picked fights with powerful politicians, including former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Midwest Energy News
June 9, 2014

Illinois activists demand moratorium on ‘petcoke’

Registered nurses and community activists will tour petroleum coke sites in Chicago Monday and publicly demand city officials to declare a moratorium on creating the byproduct they say is a hazard to city residents. National Nurses United is planning a news conference alongside the Southeast Side Environmental Task Force, Southeast Side Coalition to Ban Petcoke, and Progressive Democrats of America.

The Herald-News
June 9, 2014