By Doug Cunningham

Nurses from eight unions are uniting in "RN's Working Together", the first AFL-CIO Industry Coordinating Committee. Debbie Hayes is a nurse with the CWA.

[Debbie Hayes] : "We currently have plans for coordinated mobilization, lobbying and outreach to help protect an RN's right to organize, improve patient care by addressing staffing issues on a national level and to help fix a broken health care system."

In the future "RN's Working Together" will plan coordinated bargaining and organizing efforts.

On Friday, a Sacramento Judge extended a restraining order temporarily denying California Nurses the right to strike. The California Nurses Association, representing 9000 nurses at the University of California hospitals, had planned to strike July 21st, after 95% of its membership voted to reject the UC system's last, best, and final offer. The court order prevents any strike until after impasse proceedings are completed.

Manny Punzalan, a nurse at UCLA, says this setback has only strengthened the resolve of the union:

[Punzalan] "Right now the California Nurses UC Bargaining team has decided to go to impasse, mediation, and fact finding.

It's day three of a five day strike by health care workers throughout Washington state. 1,700 nurses and medical technicians are seeing their health care threatened by their employer, Group Health Cooperative. SEIU District 1199NW called the strike in response to company demands that employees' premium costs increase by 12 percent. Group Health is deflecting criticism by saying the strike will only hurt patients, and it's unwilling to pay for its nurses' medical care, however company officials say they are willing to hire replacement nurses at $50 an hour.

Chris Barton is a 30 veteran year nurse and Secretary Treasurer of the local.

By Doug Cunningham

Thousands of nurses at the University of California are getting ready to strike Thursday. Their contracts expired July 8th. The 9,000 nurses authorized a strike in a July 7 vote and since then there have been no negotiations on a new contract. If the University of California nurses strike it will be statewide.

It is still unclear if the third vote by nurses in Petoskey, Michigan will lead to Teamster representation. The hospital contends that the nurses, who went on strike in 2002, have been permanently replaced and the votes shouldn't count. Arguments have been turned in to the National labor Relations Board who could rule in two or three weeks. As it stands, 195 votes have been counted against representation and 109 have voted for it. 183 votes are currently in contention limbo.

Nurses in Petosky Michigan have been on strike since 2002, the longest nursing strike in U.S. history. Nurses at Northern Michigan Hospital will vote on re-certification with the Teamsters on June 2nd. Mark Ward has worked at NMH for 23 years. Since he went on strike, he says the hospital has shipped in replacement workers, and treatment has gone downhill.

[Ward ] "We're getting stories that come out of massive infection, loss of limb, death, stupid things that never would have happened if experienced nurses would have been in there."

Author Suzanne Gordon says the nursing crisis in America is driven by cost-cutting management imposing bad working conditions on nurses at a time when we need nurses the most. Gordon's book, "Nursing Against the Odds" details real-life experiences of nurses battling to deliver quality care to patients in an atmosphere that doesn't value, empower or nourish their efforts. Gordon says collective action by nurses and allied groups is needed to turn the crisis around.

[Suzanne Gordon 1]: "Well I think collective action is always part of the answer because when you work for a large institution you have no power on your own. And in America if you don't have a union you're an employee at will. So if you say to a manager, a hospital administrator, I'm worried about patient care, you know they can fire you and you have no recourse unless you're in a union."

Nine nurses were recently suspended for calling attention to nursing shortages at their hospitals. The nurses are employed at two hospitals in West Virginia and Kentucky, both owned by Appalachian Regional Healthcare. ARH suspended the nurses for one day without pay after they attended a rally addressing the staffing issues.

[Riggs1] "We found this to be incredible, that they would take action over their employees, their nurses, bringing information to the community about safe patient care."

On Friday, a judge in California struck down the governor's attempt to block a law that will mandate minimum staffing ratios at hospitals. During the hearing Sacramento Superior Court Judge Judy Holzer accused attorney's for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of using unsubstantiated claims to blame the new staffing ratios for hospital closures. Schwarzenegger used emergency regulations to try and block a law that will require California hospitals to have one nurse for every five patients. Administration officials and the California Hospital Association had argued that the ratios endanger the public health and hospital finances.

Today marks the debut of a California wide ad blitz targeting Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed healthcare industry staffing rules changes. The governor has been in a heated battle with the California Nurses Association ever since he announced changes to staffing rules. Schwarzenegger used emergency action to freeze scheduled changes in nurse staffing ratios that would have assigned fewer patients per nurse. The 60,000 member strong union says that the changes will be harmful to patients. The ad will debut tonight "in every major California cable market" during a movie about the actor turned governor's life.

Yesterday the California Nurses Association filed a lawsuit against Arnold Schwarzenegger. The governor suspended a new nurse-to-patient staffing requirement set to take effect next week. The lawsuit claims Schwarzenegger illegally overstepped his authority by issuing an emergency block on a state legislature bill passed in 1999 mandating a 1-to-5 nurse-to-patient ratio.

Charles Idelson is a spokesperson for the CNA.

"He did that order at the specific request of the state's multi-billion dollar hospital industry. And ignored all of the evidence that is already in that having safe care in hospitals reduces patient deaths, hospital infections, hospital injuries and helps erode the nursing shortage."

Hundreds of union members are expected to turn out for a St. Louis rally today supporting nurses striking St. John¹s Medical Center. St. John¹s nurses on the pickets lines in the strike against the medical center are fighting a battle over issues like patient care and staffing that many nurses nationwide are also dealing with. Julie Gunther of Nurses United in Kansas City joined the St. Louis nurses on the cold picket line.

[Julie Gunther 1] : "We know that the situation for registered nurses across our state and country is really dire as far as staffing conditions and quality nurse retention. And we just wanted to come and show our solidarity and support for them. We know that they're advocating fore their patients and that's what registered nurses are all about."

Nurses at St. John¹s medical Center in St. Louis are on strike after failing to reach agreement on a number of issues centering on patient care, wages, seniority rights and union security. Jim Dougherty is President of UFCW Local 655 representing the nurses. Some nurses have reportedly crossed the picket line to continue to work, but Dougherty said about 300 nurses braved minus 7 degree wind chills to hit the picket lines Wednesday morning. Catholic social doctrine supports unions and the right of workers to organize ­ something Dougherty says St. John¹s management should followŠ
[Dougherty]: "Management is ignoring their mercy values. I wonder where their values are when they don't care about their nurses, they seem to don't care about their patients."