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12,000 Minnesota nurses launch 1-day walkout (unions)
forbes.com ^ | 06.10.10, | CHRIS WILLIAMS

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 ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: care; nurses; patient
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1 posted on 06/10/2010 9:56:33 AM PDT by day21221
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To: day21221

they average over 70k a year...I can’t see many getting to worked up for their cause in this recession.


2 posted on 06/10/2010 9:57:25 AM PDT by WOBBLY BOB ("The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants"-Albert Camus)
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To: day21221

3 posted on 06/10/2010 9:59:03 AM PDT by Zuben Elgenubi
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To: day21221

Every union member that goes on strike while under contract ought to be able to be fired when they don’t show up for work due to a strike. If they go on strike while not under contract, they ought to be fired as well.


4 posted on 06/10/2010 9:59:03 AM PDT by ConservativeMind (Hypocrisy: "Animal rightists" who eat meat & pen up pets while accusing hog farmers of cruelty.)
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To: day21221

5 posted on 06/10/2010 9:59:48 AM PDT by Zuben Elgenubi
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To: day21221
"we're standing up for patient care" while we let them rot for 24 hours.

Fire them all.

6 posted on 06/10/2010 9:59:54 AM PDT by Drill Thrawl (Another day, another injury, another step closer. Are you prepared?)
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To: day21221

Unions, having destroyed manufacturing, are looking at one of the few remaining profitable industries in the US, and looking to leech off of that.


7 posted on 06/10/2010 10:00:13 AM PDT by Fido969 ("The hardest thing in the world to understand is income tax." - Albert Einstein)
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To: day21221

A friend in an intensive 2 1/2 year LPN nursing program reports that after covering in class the upcoming changes coming from Obama care, all of the liberal and leftist students are furious to find out they will still have to buy health care insurance.


8 posted on 06/10/2010 10:00:35 AM PDT by listenhillary (You might be a modern LIBERAL if you read 1984 & said "YEAH! That's the world that I want!")
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To: day21221

9 posted on 06/10/2010 10:01:25 AM PDT by Zuben Elgenubi
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To: day21221

I am a nurse so please allow me to opine.

Nurses are historically overworked and underpaid. However, nurses typically reap what they sow. backstabbing & infighting have allowed the labor unions to engage in class warfare & convince RNs that only a union can make their life better. I’ve worked in two unionized hospitals throughout my career & I can tell you, all the unions do is take $ from these nurses & expoit them. Usual story. A union is not the answer. Period. I could go on & on about this but you get my point. Unions are BS & I wish workers would wake up!


10 posted on 06/10/2010 10:02:32 AM PDT by surroundedbyblue
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To: day21221

11 posted on 06/10/2010 10:04:36 AM PDT by Zuben Elgenubi
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To: WOBBLY BOB
they average over 70k a year..

...and they earn every penny of it

12 posted on 06/10/2010 10:08:33 AM PDT by upsdriver (ret.)
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To: day21221

Good time to rid themselves of union nurses?


13 posted on 06/10/2010 10:11:24 AM PDT by <1/1,000,000th%
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To: surroundedbyblue

First of all, I would like to express my appreciation for your dedication and hard work. I have spent time in the hospital as well as some of my family members. A good nurse is a great credit to her profession.

I must say that unions are, in a nutshell, organized crime.


14 posted on 06/10/2010 10:14:59 AM PDT by This Just In
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To: day21221

In my opinion, nurses should contract their services to hospitals as independent contractors. Trust me, everyone including patients would benefit from this. The free market would regulate and we’d get rid of the union thugs’ fingers in hospital business.


15 posted on 06/10/2010 10:15:24 AM PDT by surroundedbyblue
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To: surroundedbyblue

70k here in MN isn’t “rich”, but ALL the people I know personally who make over 70k a year in MN are also NOT in a union.


16 posted on 06/10/2010 10:17:06 AM PDT by WOBBLY BOB ("The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants"-Albert Camus)
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To: <1/1,000,000th%

I get really tired of local “clergy” marching with unions and holding vigils.

Stick to saving souls rather than saving union bosses.


17 posted on 06/10/2010 10:25:41 AM PDT by WOBBLY BOB ("The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants"-Albert Camus)
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To: WOBBLY BOB

I love nurses, but unions are bad, mmkay?

Unions are scum suckers that take your hard-earned cheque and collect tolls.


18 posted on 06/10/2010 10:29:43 AM PDT by BenKenobi (I want to hear more about Sam! Samwise the stouthearted!)
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To: day21221

if they are not happy with the job, they should find another one. that’s the way a free market should work.


19 posted on 06/10/2010 10:30:19 AM PDT by paul51 (11 September 2001 - Never forget)
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To: Drill Thrawl

Fire them.


20 posted on 06/10/2010 10:32:21 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks (Impeachment !)
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