The image of the “thin blue line” has become common shorthand for the heroism and public trust associated with police officers. But seldom do we glorify the thin white line of nurse professionals who maintain our public health system, despite conditions that may put at risk their own health or capacity to practice. Like police officers, nurses depend on solidarity… return to article
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Reader Comments (12)Page 1 of 1 pagesCan’t Andy Stern find someone who is not on his payroll or vendor list to attack CNA?
Progressive Victory (a data brokering firm) seems to have been doing a lot of work for SEIU lately. I’m sure this pro-SEIU article is just a coincidence.
Posted by saccovanzetti on Apr 27, 2008 at 8:11 AM Since I know nothing personally of the Author, I’ll refrain from attacking his motivations or associations as the above commentor did.
However, I do have to say this reads pretty much like an SEIU press release.
“ SEIU’s novel approach in removing barriers to union growth” has largely consisted of selling out worker rights and the public welfare in the name of growth at any price.
The pitch to he boss is: you give us organizing rights, we’ll refrain from asking too much in bargaining, we’ll prevent our members from blowing the whistle on your practices, we’ll use our political power to keep regulators off your back and we’ll support your legislative agenda, regardless of its effect on the public good.
For some worthwhile references, see here:
http://www.calnurses.org/seiu-watch/pdf/seiu_to_tenet.pdf
( a letter from SEIU 1199 pres Rivera detailing some of the things they agreed to in exchange for organizing rights at Tenet Healthcare.)And then see here:
http://www.sfweekly.com/2008-02-20/news/local-union-leader-rosselli-blasts-seiu- -boss-andy-stern/full
for some of how the “innovative approach” is working out in California’s nursing home industry.Also this rather ludicrous statement begs to be addressed:
“So heated has CNA’s scorched-earth battle against SEIU become that fisticuffs erupted between the two sides at a recent union conference in Michigan.”
There were no nurses, or at least no CNA nurses participating in the “fisticuffs”. CNA nurses were in the banquet room at the Labor Notes conference when a large group of SEIU staffers tried to crash in by force. Labor Notes staff had been forewarned and arranged for an impromptu security detail made up of volunteers from a number of unions - Teamsters, CWA, UAW and others to block their access. CNA nurses had an evacuation plan and seeing no value in becoming embroiled in physical conflict left by the back door. No CNA members or staff were in the lobby where the conflict took place. For more details from some non-CNA sources - people with considerable history and respect in the labor movement - see here:
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3624/Or here: http://www.kclabor.org/wir4152008.htm?emc=&m=3899652&v=1022453018&l= =1
And with this statement: “CNA against SEIU undercuts one of the few forces in society willing to push the actuaries, CEOs, and policy-makers who oversee our broken health care system to listen to health professionals and work with them to fix it.”
I assume you are referring to CNA, not SEIU, since the SEIU approach under Stern has been to actively undermine real healthcare reform by colluding with folks like NFIB, Walmart and Arnold in favor of the forced insurance model of fake healthcare reform. CNA on the other hand, has consistently stood up and called out the insurers and fought for the rights of patients.
I could quibble elsewhere, but that’s a start.
Posted by Chico David RN on Apr 27, 2008 at 5:21 PM Like a lot of agencies and organizations that care about progressive politics, Progressive Victory and the columnist seem to be community supporters of SEIU’s overall aims of civil rights and universal health coverage. What a concept! A union that bothers to cultivate and
draw on volunteer support and even advocacy from members of the community who share its values. The columnist here makes that very point, that SEIU is a rare kind of union in speaking to people beyond its own membership. Labor gaining resonance beyond its limited ranks shouldn’t be cat-called, but complimented and replicated.
Posted by Gary22 on Apr 28, 2008 at 9:00 AM Thank you Mr. Johnson for putting this CNA vs. SEIU debate into perspective. It’s a shame that you and your organization were attacked for simply voicing support for SEIU’s efforts to win a stronger voice for nurses and healthcare workers across the country.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I am a registered nurse on staff at SEIU.
I think the reference to “fisticuffs” really started when CNA derailed the election of more than 8,000 registered nurses and other hospital employees in Ohio. The workers had been fighting for more than three years for the freedom to form a union--and were so close to having that dream realized. They had won an agreement with Catholic Health Partners (CHP) that allowed employees to honestly and freely debate whether they wanted to form a union, without pressure from the hospital or the union.
But just days before their scheduled election, dozens of CNA organizers flooded the state, initiating a hostile “vote no” campaign. I’ve heard some reports of organizers dressing up as pizza delivery drivers to sneak into the hospital and even using the hospital’s pneumatic tube system to send their flyers to patient care areas. As a result of CNA’s actions, it was clear to the workers that a free and fair vote was no longer possible.
Many have asked why the CHP employees don’t just go ahead and vote. Well, if you and your colleagues waited three years to have the chance to make a free and fair decision, without fear and misinformation, why vote now when CNA is playing the role the boss would have played?
Posted by KB RN on Apr 28, 2008 at 3:09 PM Same tired old tale, but continuing to repeat it does not make it any more true. The workers at CHP did not win an organizing agreement, SEIU bought an organizing agreement - almost certainly by giving up large swaths of the worker’s rights and the public good. if allowed to stand, this would have become the template for organizing everywhere - compliant unions colluding with the boss to “organize” workers and shut out any union that actually stood up for either the workers or the public interest
Posted by Chico David RN on Apr 28, 2008 at 3:21 PM thank you Mr. Johnson for pointing out that 1) nurses desperately need unions and that 2) with so many nurses unorganized and without unions, it simply makes no sense for CNA to be intruding where nurses already are organizing with SEIU.
Posted by WVgal on Apr 28, 2008 at 3:54 PM We CNA nurses don’t believe that legitimizing the corporate agenda can help build a stronger movement
Southern California Kaiser nurses belong to the labor-management partnership that requires unions to refrain from criticizing corporate decisions, to the detriment of workers and patients.
For example, when Kaiser announced the closing of their large Oakland hospital, a medical “red-lining” decision with devastating potential for the working class and communities of color in Oakland, the “Partnership” unions did nothing, even though thousands of workers stood to lose their jobs.
Fortunately, an assertive community campaign led by CNA forced Kaiser to retract their decision, and Kaiser Oakland remains open today.
RNs are told by their union reps that they must not report unsafe conditions to authorities because that does not promote Kaiser as the healthcare provider of choice.No CEO or union may interfere with the registered nurses responsibility and right to advocate for the best interest and wishes of our patients.
Posted by greymare on Apr 28, 2008 at 3:59 PM Mr. Johnson’s article seems to ignore the reformers within SEIU, like the workers within UHW led by Mr. Sal Rosselli, and the leadership of the SMART team (made up of other locals) who are pushing for more local control of dues money and other reforms in Puerto RIco in June. Mr. Stern and his associates are pursuing a scorched agenda and have threatened “trusteeship” for UHW, to remove UHW leadership on the issue of reforming SEIU to return control to the local membership. Over 30% of SEIU’s locals are now under this tactic, with Stern’s people in control. My local 1021 has flied a complaint with the local election board over charges that staff hand-picked our delegates who will vote on the reforms.
I think the real damage here is by the leadership of SEIU-I under Mr. Stern who believes that Corporate-controlled unions which is what was attempted in Ohio, is the only answer on the question of how do unions grow given the anti-labor laws we have in this country. CHP filed on behalf of SEIU, was running a 2 week silent election that many workers didn’t know was happening with a 1-800 number to call if workers had questions. Before I would vote for someone or a bargaining unit I would want to talk to may co-workers first not a 1-800 number. That is not an election but a selection.
Nurses in Texas, in the Houston area, now have a real union after years of organizing around safe-staffing and patient advocacy. But it started with a small group of RN’s who convinced other nurses that by having NNOC representation they could not only better collective bargaining agreements but better working conditions for themselves and their patients.
In California, CNA/NNOC has pushed single-payer with a dogged-determination that is rarely seen these days by a group. CNA/NNOC has consistently fought to get at the root causes of our failing health care system including campaign finance reform to stop corporate lobbyists especially insurance companies, from dominating the argument. CNA/NNOC stopped our Governor Schwarzenegger from destroying our RN safe-staffing ratios after a long campaign of education. I envy the nurses who are covered by CNA/NNOC and I am not alone.
After reading about what happened in DearBorn Michigan on April the 12th from the organizers of the event, Labor Notes, it seems the only group pursuing a belligerent, scorched earth policy is the leadership of the SEIU-I,. They seem hell bent on destroying the gains of nurses within CNA/NNOC with their “Shame on CNA rant” and internal reformers within SEIU, over the issue of “partnership agreements” with management. Disrupting the final convention dinner by SEIU staff was not only inappropriate but extremely coercive and violent. If this is a sample of what Corporate controlled unionism under SEIU-I is all about you lost my vote. Expanding membership in unions might sound good at first blush, but in the end, it is the employer who ultimately wins by dominating the workers and controlling the decision making. For RN’s, it is an ethical rock and a hard place, when it comes to patient care and their advocacy.
SEIU local UHW has learned thru painful experience that these agreements with nursing homes has only served to silence their own workers and especially, the registered nurse. In one case, an RN night shift nurse killed herself because she could no longer take the pressure from her employer who pressured her not to report elder abuse and maggots in her patients wounds.
Posted by lucretiamott on Apr 29, 2008 at 7:54 AM for the record re: the SEIU/CHP election in Ohio…
SEIU did not provide a single signed union card for the Ohio election; the employer hand-picked the SEIU to represent nurses WITHOUT their consent!
SEIU signs partnership agreements with employers that offer no protections for RN/Patient advocacy rights—to act in the interests of their patients, not their employers.
RNs in Ohio have been active members of NNOC for a few years now.(One example of many, for those who’ve asked...to debunk the lie that CNA/NNOC ‘just swept in a few days before the election’) http://www.nursing.ohio.gov/PDFS/Minutes/May06minutes.pdf
When other Ohio nurses wanted to hear from CNA members first hand about their freedom of choice, and freedom of speech, and best in the nation contracts that protect the RN’s duty and right to advocate, we came to show solidarity with our brothers and sisters there.
We have a blatant, powerful advocacy agenda, posted on our website for all to see: http://www.calnurses.org/nnoc/about-nnoc.html
“ We pledge to act in solidarity with our colleagues, NNOC members and other direct care nurses, who choose to act in conscience as collective patient advocates.
To speak and act on behalf of our patients.
To unite against actions by a health care facility, government agency or private interest group that infringe upon our obligations as RNs.
To unite against actions that interfere with RNs’ right to form their own organization, take action in their own name and improve conditions for all nurses. Secure passage of state and national legislation for RN staffing ratios and other basic protections for RNs and patients, and meaningful healthcare reform based on a single standard of care for all.
To block hospital industry efforts to undermine RN professional practice in legislatures, regulatory agencies, boards of nursing and at the bedside.”KB-SEIU’s staffer on this blog fails to support their assertion that CNA derailed the workers’ election. The boss filed, the boss cancelled. Clearly the bosses wanted “no union.” Free and fair? I don’t think so! The bosses certainly aren’t going to tremble over a union like SEIU that doesn’t have the support of workers, never mind quibbling over the details of a fair contract. Ohio RNs who are employed by CHP prevented their boss from choosing their union for them.
Disclosure: I am a direct care registered nurse, and a “proud to pay my dues” member of CNA/NNOC: “A Voice for Nurses, A Vision for Healthcare”
Posted by CaRN_Wonk on Apr 29, 2008 at 2:16 PM “Like police officers, nurses depend on solidarity to do their jobs.”
I hadn’t thought of it before that way, but that’s exactly right.
The kind of infighting that the article summarized and that we see being played out right here in these comments does not advance that cause. And nearly all of us have a stake in that because nearly all of us will need the essential services provided by nurses at some point.
In addition this tussle has implications for the labor movement as a whole, since it is playing out in one of the few sectors where organizing has been strong in recent years.
While raiding and turf battles have been around since unions began and can’t be done away with no matter how many neutrality pacts are signed, it is also clear when the situation has gotten way out of hand.
I hope all concerned will step back and look at it from more than the perspective of “why -my- side is right” in this debate.
This emerging faction fight within the health sector, between two of our most progressive unions at that, has to be considered within the broader context of the effort to revitalize the union movement in our country. That’s important not only for the workers in nursing, but for the strength and, yes, health of our economy going forward in this difficult era.
Posted by Fred Heutte on Apr 29, 2008 at 4:48 PM Fred,
What has been described as “raiding and turf battles,” minimizes and trivializes the importance of what’s really at stake here: Patient Safety!
Nurses depend on solidarity to form a strong union and bargain a good contract to improve wages, hours, and working conditions. Nurses depend on solidarity when it comes to enforcing the contract and blowing the whistle on unsafe working conditions that pose a danger to patients.
Nurses know that they cannot depend on a union, like SEIU, that is in solidarity with management, to protect their right to advocate in the exclusive interest of their patients. What RNs need to practice their profession, (as they are educated and licensed to do), is an environment of care that supports, not interferes with their right and duty to be patient advocates.
Sometimes being a good nurse is not the same as being a good employee, especially when employers are looking out for their bottom line. An SEIU partnership scheme protects the employer’s interests, not the interests of RNs or their patients.
For example, a hospital employer may claim to be the “best of the best” or “top 100” in their advertisements to the public. By spending enough money and repeating the message, some people may come to believe it’s true. Patients aren’t qualified to judge whether the hospital is providing enough nurses to meet their needs. RNs are!
RNs are held accountable for patient outcomes. Often RNs are blamed for complications and injuries that are caused by unsafe staffing, no meals or breaks, forced overtime, frequent interruptions, failure of hospitals to staff with enough qualified personnel to meet the needs of the patients.
When RNs are blamed for such system problems and unfairly harrassed, disciplined, or fired for exposing unsafe hospital policies and practices by management, nurses need the freedom to speak out and organize in protest to change those conditions that are a barrier to the provision of safe and effective care. That’s why they need CNA/NNOC!
SEIU partnership agreements offer no protections for RN patient advocacy, especially when they ban collective action, public exposure, and the right to strike when recalcitrant employers refuse to change circumstances that contribute to poor outcomes.
SEIU is predominantly a non-RN union. Only 2% of their members are RNs. As hospitals cut RN staff and replace them with less qualified and unlicensed staff to protect their “bottom line”, SEIU will be compelled to represent the interests of the majority of their members, who are not RNs, and will be complicit with their corporate partner’s agenda.
The California Nurses Association and The National Nurse’s Organizing Committee is progressive as a labor organization, professional organization, and public advocacy organization. SEIU International’s partnership schemes are regressive, and dangerous for nurses, patients, and workers.
Disclosure: I am a direct care registered nurse and a “proud to pay my dues” member of CNA/NNOC/AFL-CIO.
Posted by CaRN_Wonk on Apr 29, 2008 at 8:46 PM I do not accept your criticism that my statement “minimizes and trivializes” patient safety. Instead, you have just underlined what I see as a serious problem here, the tendency to paint the “other side” as entirely in the wrong.
I am a member of neither union involved and will not comment on their respective positions here. I will observe, though, that in Oregon where I live, SEIU and the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP-AFT) united in a very effective coalition to organize Providence Health System nurses. Patient safety was and is a key issue in the ongoing efforts to force Providence management to face their responsibilities to their patients, their workers and our community. My experience is that it’s not at all true that SEIU “is in solidarity with management, to protect their right to advocate in the exclusive interest of their patients.”
Likewise, I have heard high praise from many people I know for the tough and effective organizing and representation CNA provides. Your union is widely admired.
This is why I implore both sides of this dispute to elevate the discussion beyond mere name-calling. There is a lot to be gained by a forceful but fair discussion of differing organizing strategies. Otherwise I am reminded of Benjamin Franklin’s observation: “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”
Posted by Fred Heutte on Apr 30, 2008 at 2:45 AM Page 1 of 1 pages -
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