Posted on 06/10/2010 9:56:33 AM PDT by day21221
12,000 Minnesota nurses launch 1-day walkout MINNEAPOLIS -- Outside Abbott Northwestern Hospital, what was called the largest nurses strike in U.S. history began Thursday to the sounds of "Amazing Grace" played on Michael Redmond's bagpipe. The 50-year-old nurse, wearing a red Minnesota Nurses Association T-shirt and green plaid kilt, said he picked the song because of its history as an old abolitionist rallying cry.
He played as night-shift nurses walked off the job early Thursday. BuzzHe said he sees a connection between the old fight against slavery and the strike by 12,000 Minnesota nurses. "The rally cry is that we're standing up for patient care and we're standing up for ourselves," he said. A key issue in the dispute was the nurses' demand for strict nurse-to-patient ratios, rejected by hospitals as inflexible and unnecessary. Sue Stamness, a cardiology nurse at Abbott for 24 years, said patient safety was the nurses' top concern.
"Nobody is listening to what we are saying," Stamness said. The nurses began their one-day strike at 7 a.m. at 14 hospitals in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Organizers said nurses would walk picket lines in three eight-hour shifts and by the end of the day nearly all 12,000 would participate. called the largest nurses' strike in U.S. history by both the union and the hospitals, the immediate effect was expected to be minimal. Hospitals hired 2,800 replacement nurses, called in extra non-unionized staff, reduced patient levels and some hospitals rescheduled elective surgeries.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Is UPS unionized? Just askin’.
Fired!
I concur.They exist soley to elect demonrats.
Yes, Teamsters, why?
btw, I am not a fan of unions
Nothing, I just didn’t know for sure...thanks.
And replace them with......? There is a nurse shortage.
I never grant sainthood for people based on their profession.
I’ve found there to be plenty of rotten nurses, cops, and teachers .
Being in a union often seems to protect the most rotten of the rotten.
I notice that some churches have gotten so far off message, that churches are starting to advertise “Bible-based” sermons.
If the nursing union can't show that there is a statistical correlation between lower staffing levels and risk to patients, it's because there is no such thing.
Not around here.
I’d bet MO-AR nurses would jump at $70 K + benefits.
You’re welcome. I’ve had my challenges with some in UPS management over the years but nothing I couldn’t deal with myself. UPS is quite successful in spite of union interference in the running of the company. Even though the drivers are unionized, a person would be hard pressed to find another group of employees that outworks them.
The nurses I’ve known are of the same work ethic. Maybe it’s just this part of the country (ND) but I’d prefer to believe it is true all over.
all of the liberal and leftist students are furious to find out they will still have to buy health care insurance.
You Betcha! All along they’ve been promising their Libtard base that it would be FREE!
I have an aunt here in Texas who is a nurse, and she says nursing is the worse profession a woman could choose.
She says the general public doesn’t know what goes on behind the scenes.
They have tremendous, life and death responsibility, they get low pay and are treated like slaves (forced to work short handed and for long hours) and dogs by the doctors, families and the general public.
That being said, I don’t know what the answer is to their problem. Maybe going on strike is the only solution.
You don't think many agonized walking off the job? I do. They maintained no one is listening to them about conditions, chances are this won't help. I'll guarantee you, nurses care more for their patients well being than do administration. Their complaint is not for more money, they are short staffed. They are tired.
I know many nurses. Nurses get paid very well, and have very good benefits on average. Some of them work in stressful jobs, but they don’t have to unless they want to.
Them doing a walk-out just proves how utterly rediculous unions have become. These people only care about lining their pockets and nothing more.
OK, but anyone (union or not) who walks off the job with no approved absence, no illness, and no personal emergency should expect to be fired.
.
I have nothing against nurses.
(My mom is one, right here in MN.)
The unions are the problem.
Yes, they should, it is a distinct possibility. They had to weigh that in their minds. No one is entitled to a job.
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