Message from the President

It’s hard to imagine my name at the end of this article. Joan Johnson has led this local since its inception. Joan has intelligence, logic and a great deal of self restraint. She has used exceptional articulation skills to speak up for all of us. Joan truly understands that collectively, nurses are powerful. Thank you Joan for all the blood, sweat and tears for the past ten years.

Now... My name is Darlene Mulhern.  I have worked at Mt. Holly Hospital since 1975.  The nursing profession has changed enormously in the past 33 years.  We have taken care of patients, clients and customers. There have been many upheavals in our hospital and home care administrations.  Nurses have suffered through several patient care delivery systems.

The one constant is the nurse.  Nurses who are educated and intelligent.  Nurse who are entitled to provide the care the community deserves.  Kind and compassionate are adjectives frequently used to describe nurses, while those are nice attributes, they are low on the "must have" list.

Nurse save lives. To do this we must be educated, intelligent and intuitive.  Nurses must be able to rapidly assess, interpret and communicate changes in a patient’s condition. Some of us might have become nurses to "care" for people but we stay nurses because we have the obligation, knowledge and ability to improve the health and well-being of our community.

Mr. Richard Miller referred to "collective voices" in his letter to employees dated May 13, 2008, he's right.  Our union has made a big impact on health care reform in New Jersey. The hpae.org website is an excellent source of legislative information. Everyone of us should know and take pride in these accomplishments.

 The nurses of Local 5105 refuse to accept the "perception" of good care as being the reality of good care. Patient outcomes are directly related to the science of nursing. We will continue to fight for ourselves, our patients and our community. Get involved, be informed. You aren't "that nice nurse", you save lives.

Sincerely,

Darlene Mulhern

Change is Good Sometimes

By Joan Johnson,  Vice-President Local 5105

Approximately 100 members attended our General Membership dinner meeting on May 19^th at Milano Modo by Lamberti in Mt. Holly.  Almost every unit was represented.

Sue Raup gave the Treasurer report, Debbie White spoke about some important grievances, Patty Nelson Beddia gave an update for Virtua CNS Homecare, Claudia Storicks recounted her recent testimony before the State Legislature on the proposed “BSN in 10 years” law and other important COPE information.

As your President for the past 10 years, I recounted my impressions of the reasons we organized in the first place and why it is important for each of us to pass that information on to our new members:

The hospital “business” was changing, which impacted our livelihoods as nurses.  For example:

“Patient-focused care” seemed to be a fad of the ‘90s.  Nursing units were reconfigured—no more central nursing station.  Mini-stations were set up throughout the floor. No big deal, right?  Wrong!  It was used as a smokescreen to force some nurses to “reapply” for their own jobs.  Some didn’t get them, some lost their shifts.

There was no standard pay scale.  Nurses with the same amount of nursing experience earned less in different departments.  If a nurse transferred from Critical Care nursing to Surgical Services nursing or Maternal Child Health Nursing, there was a pay cut.  Big incentive for career growth, right?  Nursing units or shifts with high vacancy rates in the late ‘80s were given higher pay rates in order to fill the jobs—only to subsequently suffer a huge pay cut in the mid-90s.  This wage disparity was used as a “wedge” issue when we tried to organize our union, as if the nurses themselves were responsible for creating the mess.

When we investigated our legal rights as changes were imposed on us, we found out quickly that we had NO rights.  We were “at-will” employees, and as such, our employer could do anything they wanted short of violating our civil rights.

For these and many more reasons, many like-minded nurses thought it prudent to protect ourselves from future transgressions by gaining our legal rights.  And by the way, the only way for an employee to do that is to form a union.

As time goes by, the history of our “organizing” project may be lost on the new generation of nurses.  It was an exciting time and gave us a real sense of accomplishment and empowerment. For that reason, I compiled much of my memorabilia into a history album for our Local 5105 members and will make it available at future union meetings for any new member to view.  And of course, all of the officers would love to entertain you with our stories of the year 1996.

I “passed the torch” on to Darlene Mulhern during the General Membership meeting.  As you know, our local election took place in April/May and Darlene accepted her nomination to the president position.  She has a different style and brings a new perspective on how to accomplish our goals in the upcoming 2009 negotiations. Of course, I still plan to help out in every way possible- I have accepted the Union Chair of the Hospital Staffing Committee.  And I am still one of two Union Trustees for the jointly administered (Labor and Employer) HPAE Retiree Medical Trust.

                 The bargaining unit nurses of both HPAE and JNESO are the only employees at Virtua that have the legal right to meet with our administration at the table and negotiate a written agreement with them that is enforceable.   I hope that our new generation of nurses understands the value of that in these tougher economic times.  As American citizens and businesses demand relief from the high cost of health care, it is imperative that staff nurses are organized and have a voice in the changes that are bound to come.  All of the activists of HPAE have positioned us well for the future. We have a respected presence among the legislators in Trenton.  We are part of a larger union, the million-member American Federation of Teachers, which has a presence on the national stage, as evidenced by Hillary Clinton’s appearance at the AFT convention in Chicago.  We are part of the labor movement, embodied by the AFL-CIO.

A union does not create perfection.  A union does not solve every member’s personal issues.  A union is only as strong as its members.  It is a vehicle for participating in change.

Now ask yourself this question:  Am I the person who will step forward to invest time in my nurses’ union?  Can I contribute?

“The future depends on what we do in the present.”   - Mahatma Gandhi

FYI:  Recently, there were two pay periods in which a mistake was made by Virtua in the Retiree Medical Trust contribution.  The union leadership immediately notified Susan Anders, Director of Labor Relations for Virtua.  The first mistake was corrected-- but the “fix” caused the second mistake a few weeks later.  We were assured that it is permanently fixed.  However, we are diligently monitoring this and will file a grievance if it occurs again. By agreement with Virtua, the Trust maximum contribution per pay period is $16 (pre-tax) for a 40-hours per week employee and pro-rated for part-timers (20 cents hr). Per Diem status nurses are not participants. Overtime and call-back, etc. is not part of this contribution.  

Joan Johnson

VP Local 5105

2009 Negotiations

Recently there were letters in the mailbox with suggestions of things the negotiating team should "get" for the membership.  The committee works hard to improve working conditions at Virtua. However Virtua would like it if we worked for free and quietly disappeared when we are old and sick. 

The team works here and wants what you want.  However we understand that we must negotiate (i.e. fight) for everything.  Please join us at our next general membership meeting.  We will be discussing 2009 negotiations and strategies.  Check the website, or ask your rep.  Be involved.

Staffing disclosure

It is up to everyone to police their unit for the proper staffing disclosure. The regulations took two years to write and changes have already taken place. Darlene has a copy of the regulations if anyone wants a copy.  Remember if it looks like a fish and smells fishy.......

Attention reps

As we discussed at our General Membership meeting all reps are now responsible for meeting and greeting new members on their unit. If you don’t have any new member packets leave a message for an Executive Board member. You know where we can be found.

Convention in Atlantic City

It’s close to home, its down the Shore, there’s a party. If that’s not enough there are contact hours and great speakers. Nominate yourself as a delegate. Our local helps cover expenses. We will pay the fee for the convention. Depending on how many attend we will help pay for rooms.

Taj Mahal

October 2nd & 3rd, 2008

Click here to register NOW