Local 5186's Response To Management's Layoff Announcement

March 16, 2010

To All HPAE Local 5186 Christ Hospital RNs:

In our ongoing effort to keep our members informed during this very stressful time, we, your local executive board, would like to tell you our most updated information.

As you all know, the hospital notified the nurses on 3east that the unit will permanently close in early February. We have met with senior administration at least twice since then. At that time, we were given a list of very limited open positions in the hospital. We have since facilitated a 12 hour shift change in maternal child health in hopes that this would make more positions available.

Since that time, Mr. Kelly has announced that a second and larger “across the board” layoff would occur. We have been trying persistently to obtain from administration in the 2 formal meetings we had the number of affected nurses, as well as non union members, as that also has a great effect on the day to day patient care that we provide. As of today, March 16th, the hospital has not been forthcoming with that information yet.

What they have provided us with is the totality of the financial standings of the hospital, and unfortunately, we have verified it is certainly in financial crisis. At this time, in view of the lack of information, we have insufficient evidence that any further concessions in nursing, wages or otherwise, will make a difference in the outcome of this layoff. Therefore our negotiated contract remains unchanged until further information is provided to us. In the meantime, we have formed a layoff committee consisting of 3 LEB members whose contact information is provided below, in the event you receive any layoff notification from the hospital. We remain committed to supporting you through this difficult process.

In Unity,
Local 5186 Executive Board

Mary Alice Somers
201-792-9473
201-725-0158

Nancy Weinstein
201-424-2125

Nicole Mankowski
551-689-3034