NEW YORK NURSE: September 2007
More than 120 NYSNA members and supporters picketed Brooks Memorial Hospital on Aug. 7 to pressure management to negotiate fairly. “This is really about the way they’re bargaining – or rather refusing to bargain,” said Gaen Hooley, NYSNA labor relations representative. “Management said that they would move if we moved. We moved and they didn’t.”
NYSNA represents 120 members at the Dunkirk facility, including registered nurses, nuclear and medical technologists, and respiratory therapists. Their most recent three-year contract expired on June 30. NYSNA is seeking to improve wage and vacation scales so steps will be more equal. Management representatives have agreed in principle to fix the scales, but haven’t signed off on it. They are also seeking a change in the current sick leave policy. “Although we’ve reached tentative agreement on several items so far, we’re far from done,” Hooley said. “Management needs to talk about the issues, not ignore them.”