| In Nevada, things are heating up in a labor dispute between nurses and company that runs the hospital where they work (I see no indication this is a non-profit, so I assume we're talking about a for-profit hospital -- great idea).
Workers and management have been locked in talks for months and the members of the union finally voted to strike on Nov. 18, until the Republican Governor-elect and a few other officials called for a cooling off period. SEIU's members obliged and agreed to a new round of mediation.
The company refused and is now preparing to walk out nurses.
What's the big point of contention in the contract?
It's not pay or benefits. It's staffing levels. Nurses are saying that they are being put in charge of too many patients and are unable to adequately do their jobs -- patient health suffers as a result.
Sure, you could claim this is greed for the union -- more nurses = more members. But the individual nurses willing to face a lockout aren't going out there to build a union, they're doing it because they know that their patients need more support.
I'll be trying to follow this and provide updates. Taylor Marsh is providing non-stop coverage, including interviews with locked out nurses. |
