SFRNA Bargaining Update #8 – Nov. 2, 2017
November 2017
- Added protection to prevent extension of job postings when there’s a qualified RN bidder
- Ensured continued protection of liability insurance for all RNs
- Management has proposed to increase the holiday commitment for per diem RNs
- Management has also proposed to change our PTO cash out language
- Management proposed a cap on vacation which would limit the amount of vacation that nurses can take
Join us at negotiations sessions to help ensure that we reach agreement on a strong contract in a timely manner!
Thursday, Dec. 21 | 10:30 am – 4 pm
4700 Airport Plaza Dr. | Long Beach, CA 90815
Click here for a PDF version of this update.
SFRNA RNs were able to come together with ancillary staff, MDs, and other St. Francis employees to collect monetary donations for area schools Mark Twain Elementary and Washington Elementary. This was our 4th Annual Back to School Drive and the collective effort resulted in donations of $2,500 to each school. Thank you all for coming together for our community.
On November 1, SFRNA held a “roselight vigil” for patient care at the hospital. St. Francis RNs, faith leaders, local government officials and other supporters gathered in Lynwood Park across from St. Francis Medical Center for a vigil and prayer ceremony to bless the nurses, their patients and the hospital. We carried the lighted red roses as a symbol of our patient advocacy. Together we faced St. Francis Medical Center and prayed by the light of plastic red roses which lit up the dusk.
“Staffing is critically important to patient care,” said Bill Rouse, Executive Director of UNAC/UHCP, and longtime chief negotiator for the St. Francis RNs. “As strong patient advocates, the nurses have said this to management many times. Over the years, they’ve fought for a voice in patient care at the hospital, and they haven’t been afraid to use it. They will not be silenced now. St. Francis is the only high-level trauma center serving a huge population of underserved communities in South Los Angeles. These communities deserve the best patient care, just like anyone else in LA County. Increased staffing at St. Francis will improve the patient care that this community receives. St. Francis RNs have consistently been strong advocates for their patients and community and will continue to do so.”
SFRNA Treasurer Ana Bergeron, RN, who works in the Cath Lab at St. Francis and serves on the nurse bargaining team, was one of the nurses who addressed the crowd. “Many of our nurses live in this community or were raised in this community, and feel ownership,” she said. “I live here. One of our primary responsibilities is to serve as patient advocates. The St. Francis Registered Nurses have worked internally and through our regulatory agencies to ensure that excellent care is given. Please join us in prayer that eyes will see, ears will hear, and nurses will not be silenced.”
Lynwood City Councilwoman Aide Castro told how her first two children were born at St. Francis. Then in 2011, when she was pregnant with twins, she went into early labor at twenty weeks. She was rushed to St. Francis, where the nurses helped save the pregnancy. “I was very scared,” she said. “In the ER, the nurses told me everything would be all right. I never introduced myself as councilwoman. But I got excellent care, even when they didn’t know who I was.”
“I am 100% committed,” Councilwoman Castro told the assembled St. Francis RNs. “I stand next to you. That hospital belongs to the city of Lynwood and its residents. We support you. We are with you. You are not alone. We love you.”
Other speakers included Scott Byington, RN, SFRNA President and a nurse at St. Francis for 22 years; and Rosa Carcamo, RN in the SFMC ER for 10 years. The prayer was conducted by Nikki Smith, First Lady of the Travelers Rest Missionary Baptist Church.
Click here for a PDF version of this update.