Parkview RNs Stand Up For Our Rights and Win

July 2012

Parkview RNs have the right as union members to stand up for ourselves without retaliation from management. We just won a big victory to protect that right.

Background

Our contract in Article 1217 says that bargaining unit RNs should be awarded OT shifts before registry or traveler RNs are used. Last December, management violated that article.

We exercised our rights under the contract to file a grievance. We won, and the nurses who were canceled improperly were compensated for the overtime shifts they would have worked.

Parkview RNs Stand Up Against Retaliation

At a staff meeting in January, the Critical Care Director acknowledged our contractual overtime right. But she threatened that if any ICU RNs exercised our right to voluntary overtime, she would personally review our charts. She threatened to report any errors directly to the BRN and request revocation of that RN's license, bypassing HR and UNAC/UHCP.

Parkview RNs refused to be intimidated. We filed a second grievance.

On Wednesday, July 11, the night before the grievance was scheduled to go to an arbitration hearing, management settled. They agreed to:

1. Sign a notice that spells out our rights under federal law and our contract, and Parkview's commitment not to violate those rights

2. Post the notice in all four of the Critical Care Director's units and HR for 60 days

3. Have the HR Director read the notice to staff in the presence of the Critical Care Director at the next ICU staff meeting

Keep Standing Up

When our contract was violated, we stood up to protect our rights and we won.

Read the full Notice to Parkview Registered Nurses

Download a leaflet with this information to print and share with co-workers