REPORT: October/November 2006

UAN organizer lends a hand in N.J.

by Rolando Tomas Infante

The NYSNA team helping to organize nurses at Community Medical Center in Toms River, N.J., got a welcome shot of adrenalin this summer.

It came in the form of Solito “Sunny” Barana, a veteran union organizer on assignment from United American Nurses (UAN), the national nurses’ union. NYSNA is a member of the UAN.

The Glendale, Calif., native has nearly 20 years of labor experience in the healthcare industry. In numerous meetings and conversations with CMC nurses, Barana has helped many of them understand what NYSNA can provide for them.

“Sunny has been a major contributor to our organizing campaign,” said Barbara Conklin, associate director of the NYSNA Economic and General Welfare program and team leader at CMC. “Sunny is a great organizer and has fit seamlessly into NYSNA’s organizing department.”

“My specialty has been dealing with a culturally diverse nursing community,” said Barana, who is of Filipino descent. “There is a significant Filipino population at the hospital that I can personally relate to and communicate with, both in English and Tagalog.”

Since arriving in Toms River, Barana has encountered blatant hostility from management and has seen union-busting tactics used against the nurses. “I’ve dealt with union busters through my career,” said Barana. “In typical fashion, CMC management has engaged in an intense campaign to spread misinformation and intimidate the nurses.”

Despite management’s best efforts, however, Barana says he has taken his assignment as an act of passion on behalf of the nurses.

“The CMC nurses have been denied a union far too long,” he said. “As a Filipino-American, I am offended that management has resorted to intimidating my fellow Filipino nurses, telling them that to join a union is un-American.”

“Far to the contrary,” continued Barana. “I am working hard to combat the hospital’s well-oiled propaganda machine and I’m letting each and every nurse know that joining a union is one of the most democratic traditions in America.”