The Pulse. The Official Newsletter of SJNA. We Stood Up, They Listened. Union Bulletin Boards. February Executive Comm.

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Robert Stevenson
7 years ago
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1 Executive Comm Pat Meade Treasurer Krista Schulte Secretary Pam Buckley Staffing & Acuity Chair Michelle Foreman Membership Chair INA Staff John Fitzgerald INA Representative Brock Meade INA Organizer Chicago Office 105 W Adams St., #1420 Chicago, IL, P: F: IllinoisNurses.com facebook.com/illinoisnurses The Pulse The Official Newsletter of SJNA Visit Us: Us: Read Us: We Stood Up, They Listened Room 243, Saint Joe s Hospital ina.stjoes@gmail.com Call or Text Us: (815) February 2016 It has been a tough five months since St. Joe s began messing up our paychecks, but the recent progress is a true testament to the power of collective action. When we complained individually to managers, telephone numbers and addresses that led seemingly to nowhere, we made incremental progress at best. When we collectively petitioned, we got results. Two hundred Nurses signed a petition demanding CEO Kathleen Rhine take action and responsibility by fixing the disaster Presence Health created. The response was then immediate: Corporate decisionmakers reached out to INA Staff and the Executive Committee on how to resolve the payroll crisis. We gave them the deadline of February 12th, 2016 and by-and-large, paychecks have been corrected. This is all thanks to our strength in unity. Pat Meade Recovery Pam Buckley PCU Krista Schulte Med Surg Michelle Foreman PM&R Union Bulletin Boards We now have keys for the Union Bulletin Boards. We need to test the keys to make sure they work and update our bulletins! Call Brock for a key. 1

2 Member Spotlight Nominations Know a Nurse who is a stellar Union Member, excels at Nursing, or volunteers in the community? Recommend them for the Member Spotlight article of the Newsletter! Each month, the newsletter will feature a Spotlighted Member to get a glimpse of who they are and what they do. This is a way to recognize individuals for their union activity, professional expertise, and community involvement. It is also a way to learn about a Nurse from another unit. If you have someone in mind, please contact Brock at or bmeade@illinoisnurses.com Labor Management Committee The Labor-Management Committee convened on Thursday, February 11th in the Madison Board Room. The following is a brief summary of what was discussed. If you are still having payroll issues please file a complaint and have a case number for follow up. Then call or John with info so he can assist you. Management is working on redesigning the pay stubs to resemble the former format. Jackie Stapinski from Surgery spoke before the committee on adding an On Call button back into the Kronos time clock. Also, you can change your contact information in People Soft to reflect your non-work contact information, such as your address, in order to access People Soft from home. Informed consent remains the Physician s responsibility, whereas the Nurse is a witness. If the patient is not well-informed, then the Nurse should notify the Doctor. Management shared the results of the NDNQI Survey with the Union. The results should be shared with staff. Lynn Watson said Management is working on new policies and competencies. New competencies that have been added include: knowledge and skills validation, accessing ports, discontinuing PICC lines, CVC s, and insertion of IO lines. Erica Kesler from CCRT encouraged Management to allow units to wear special shirts more than one Friday per month. If you have any suggestions for what needs to be included on April s Labor Management agenda, contact Union Leadership or INA Staff. A Dose of Union History On February 19th, 1975 the U.S. Supreme Court decides in favor of sales clerk Leura Collins and her union, the Retail Clerks, in NLRB v. J. Weingarten Inc. the case establishing that workers have a right to request the presence of their union steward if they believe they are to be disciplined for a workplace infraction". - 2

3 Know Your Rights! Union Representation & the Grievance Process A Union Steward is the voice, eyes and ears of the Union. They fill the role of the Union Representative, Contract Enforcer, and Communicator. Every Member has the right to a Union Rep. A Union Rep is someone who represents their fellow Members in the Grievance process and in general dealings with Management. Members who work the floor and know both the Grievant and the Manager are best prepared to Represent the Grievant and the Union! A Grievance is a way to challenge discipline and contract violations. It is a three step process that serves to enforce the contract. A grievance must be filed within 21 days of becoming aware of the event, even if awareness of the event does not take place until after the event occurs. If the Grievance is not resolved through the three step Grievance Process, it can then be taken to Arbitration in which a third party gets involved. You have the right to a Union Rep when receiving Discipline (Section 6.6), filing a Grievance (Article 4), and Appealing to Arbitration (Article 5). If you have any questions, contact your Steward or INA Staff. Does your unit have a Union Steward? Visit page 4 to find out how you can become the Steward on your unit! By possessing a keen understanding of the contract, a Union Steward monitors the contract in the unit to ensure that it is followed properly. By enforcing the contract and having a Steward in the unit, we can defend our profession and protect our patient safety. This however does not get fellow members off the hook from knowing their contract. Know your contract, know your rep, know your rights! Grievance Updates We challenged the discipline one Nurse received and were successful in having the discipline rescinded. We had one Nurse who had difficulty getting scheduled promptly on her return from leave. We were able to get her back to work and compensated for the time missed. In another case, there was confusion between UNUM and the hospital about a leave. We were able to resolve the dispute, approve the leave, and get pay. We have some issues with seniority that we are working out. We also are working on a grievance about PTO tiers, namely that one starts at the next tier at the beginning of the 5th year, and the beginning of the 10th year. Issues around payroll continue to arise, and the Executive Committee and Union staff are working with HR to identify and resolve these issues. Staffing & Acuity Committee Welcome Tina Kovel and Sheri-Lynn Fracaro to the Staffing and Acuity Committee! More updates on the Committee in March s Newsletter. 3

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6 Upcoming Events Attend the Union Meetings 5:30pm 7:30pm Wednesday February 24th At the Painter s Hall Local 33, 100 Republic Avenue 6:00am 6:00pm Wednesday March 30th At Presence St. Joseph Medical Center, Auditorium C Steward Training 8:00am 2:00pm Wednesday, March 16th At the Painter s Hall Local 33, 100 Republic Avenue Labor Notes Conference 1:00pm Friday, April 1st 3:00pm Sunday April 3rd At the Hyatt Regency O Hare, 9300 Bryn Mawr Ave., Rosemont, IL Save the Date & Request Time Off Now for the INA 2016 Membership Assembly 7:00am 7:00pm Friday, October 21st At the Holiday Inn & Suites Bloomington Airport, 3202 E. Empire, Bloomington, IL 6

WASHINGTON STATE NURSES ASSOCIATION LOCAL UNIT RULES ST. LUKE S REHAB INSTITUTE SPOKANE, WASHINGTON ARTICLE I - NAME

WASHINGTON STATE NURSES ASSOCIATION LOCAL UNIT RULES ST. LUKE S REHAB INSTITUTE SPOKANE, WASHINGTON ARTICLE I - NAME The name of this unit shall be St. Luke s Rehab. Institute Local Unit of Spokane, Washington.