Hundreds of nurses joined informational picket at UMC

Registered nurses at University Medical Center (UMC) in New Orleans, Louisiana, held an informational picket and rally this afternoon, during which they announced their plan to take a strike authorization vote. UMC nurses, who are members of National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU), were joined by hundreds of union nurses from around the country in their demands for safe staffing and workplace violence prevention.

“At our last picket, we collectively decided to launch our strike pledges,” said Hailey Dupre, RN in the endoscopy unit at UMC, at the rally. “I’m happy to announce that the overwhelming majority of our coworkers have signed it and have pledged to strike. We know UMC cares only about maximizing profits. Our ability to threaten the flow of their profits is our most powerful tool and we believe it is time for us to show loud and clear that we are prepared to do what it takes to win a strong union contract.”

Since bargaining began in March, UMC management has delayed negotiations, including postponing bargaining sessions and refusing to make meaningful responses to nurses’ proposals on key issues like workplace violence and safe staffing. No date has been set for a strike authorization vote, which would empower the RNs on the bargaining team to call a strike if management continues delaying negotiations. If nurses move forward with a strike, they will provide at least 10 days notice.

“I want to make this clear: Our working conditions are the healing environment for our patients,” said Terry Mogilles, RN at UMC’s ambulatory care clinic, at the rally this afternoon. “An integral part of our organizing efforts is to fight for justice for our community. Whether it is gender justice, racial justice, health care justice, or economic justice, nurses must be at the center of how we tackle these issues.”

UMC nurses were joined by nurses from Children’s Hospital New Orleans, who recently announced their campaign to form a union. Both hospitals are owned by LCMC.

“We are excited to join UMC RNs in our fight to force LCMC to do right by their RNs and patients,” said Brooke Tompkins, RN in the neonatal intensive care unit at Children’s Hospital, at today’s rally. “Thank you to everyone at UMC that has been so encouraging to us during our organizing efforts. We have been inspired by what you all have accomplished, and look to follow in your footsteps. We need to unite RNs all across the city, the state, and the South. We are unstoppable when we stand together as nurses!”

NNU nurses from around the country are in New Orleans for the union’s convention and celebration of its 15th anniversary. NNU is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the U.S.

“It’s an honor to be here today, standing with UMC nurses in your righteous fight for safe patient care conditions,” said NNU President Nancy Hagans, RN, at the UMC rally. “NNU represents 225,000 RNs across the United States. And from my home state of New York — to California — and everywhere in between, we have NNU nurses from all across the country here today. It was so important to us to come stand with our UMC colleagues. You’ve already won such a huge, historic victory by organizing a union. And now, UMC nurses deserve a strong first contract that guarantees protections for their patients and for RNs.”

“We are so proud to have recently welcomed the UMC nurses into our union family,” said NNU Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN at today’s rally. “Your courage, compassion, and tenacity have inspired nurses across Louisiana, throughout the South, and across the United States. It’s incredibly meaningful to have NNU nurses from across the country gathered here in New Orleans again today — to stand with you.”

UMC nurses, who are members of NNOC/NNU, have proposed measures to prevent workplace violence and improve safe staffing. The nurses’ proposals include requiring UMC to produce a comprehensive workplace violence prevention program that is implemented at all times, in all units and work areas, and on all facility grounds, including parking structures; legal protections against retaliation for reporting unsafe conditions; and proposals that would improve recruitment and retention. So far, UMC has responded with proposals that maintain the flawed status quo.

At July’s informational picket, Heidi Tujague, an emergency room RN, said, “Too often, we are short-staffed and without systems to respond to the threat of violence. Without the guarantees of a legally binding union contract, any promises made by UMC are meaningless.”

Health care workers are experiencing a surge in workplace violence rates nationally, which has been exacerbated by the health care industry’s actions during the Covid-19 pandemic. A nationwide survey conducted by NNU found that the majority of nurses have experienced workplace violence and nearly half have seen a rise in rates in the past year.

Background on NNOC/NNU at UMC:

NNOC/NNU represents nearly 600 nurses at University Medical Center, including registered nurses (RNs) and nurse practitioners (NPs). In December 2023, UMC nurses made history after voting to join NNOC/NNU — becoming the first unionized private-sector hospital in the state of Louisiana and members of the largest union of registered nurses in the United States.

This summer, UMC nurses held a speak-out in June and their first informational picket in July to highlight how workplace violence is negatively impacting staff morale and retention. More than 80 percent of nurses signed a letter calling for UMC to support victims and to support nurses in preventing these acts of violence from happening in the first place. Data has proven that unit-specific workplace violence prevention plans reduce violent incidents.

National Nurses Organizing Committee is an affiliate of National Nurses United, the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with nearly 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates also include California Nurses Association, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.