Seachange Bulletin #125

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Seachange Bulletin #124: Labor News International
Pacific Rim: Alberta, California, Kampuchea, Washington

Editorial Comment: Direct email circulation of this bulletin has grown
difficult. They will continue to be posted on the Web <
http://www.seachangebulletin.org>. Notices of new postings will be circulated via email, however. Your
comments, news and views will continue to be warmly received as we continue to
build an international community of nursing, labor and health reform activists. -
Sandy Eaton, RN, Quincy, Massachusetts, USA

Alberta:

Contract rollbacks rushing nurses toward traumatic decision
Forced into arbitration by the province,
nurses know a walkout would be perilous.
Here's a guide to the proposed contract changes
at the heart of their quarrel with health regions
Susan Ruttan, The Edmonton Journal, October 8, 2003
<http://www.nursesunions.ca/linda-edm.pdf>

Edmonton - For the 600 nurses gathered at the AgriCom this week for the
annual meeting of the United Nurses of Alberta, there is one overriding topic of
conversation - the contract dispute with Alberta's nine health regions. The
nurses find themselves in a difficult spot. The health regions have just won the
Alberta government's agreement to have the dispute settled through binding
arbitration, a course UNA is vehemently opposed to. Yet to hold an illegal strike,
as UNA's 20,000 members did in 1988 and threatened to do in 1997, runs the
risk of the government stepping in and imposing a contract. Still, the nurses'
opposition to the contract rollbacks being sought by their employers, and
endorsed by the mediator, is very clear. The mediator's proposed contract
settlement was rejected by a 99-per-cent vote last month. Wages are not an issue this
year; both sides are agreed on increases of around 3.5 per cent a year. What
has nurses so upset are proposed changes to their working conditions, and the
tough stand Alberta's health regions have taken at the bargaining table. Here is
some background on the current impasse ...

Klein’s nurses comments a Christmas turkey
Nurses deserve respect, not threats - Mason
Alberta New Democratic Party, December 22, 2004
<http://www.newdemocrats.ab.ca/archive/20031222.php>

Edmonton – Ralph Klein’s threat to put nurses in jail, made days after the
Calgary health region sent premature babies to Saskatchewan due to nursing
shortages, shows just how out of touch the Premier has become, charged New
Democrat MLA Brian Mason. Mason said that a shortage of nurses should cause the
Premier to value nurses as health professionals. Instead, Mason said the Premier is
"acting like a bully and threatening nurses with ‘hard time’ just before
Christmas." "We need a government strategy to retain and recruit nurses," said
Mason. "Instead, we get more dumb comments from the Premier." "Instead of
confrontation, the Premier would be wise to try to work with nurses to find and
train new recruits." ...

Nurses want to be part of health care talks
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, December 29, 2003
<http://edmonton.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=ed_nurses20031229>

Calgary - The province needs to consult nurses about any reforms they make to
how health care is delivered, the United Nurses of Alberta says. The
government is overhauling how primary health care is handled in the province, and has
promised to consult doctors closely. But UNA president Heather Smith says the
same promise hasn't been made to nurses, who are in the middle of contentious
contract negotiations with the provincial regional health authorities. "Nurses
are a central part of delivering health care services," she said. "I'm not
saying nurses are supreme, or nurses are the only group, but it should not be a
physician-dominated or physician-first access kind of model. When you need
health-care services, you go to a clinic and you may be seen by a nurse, or you
may be seen by a dietician, or respiratory therapist, or you may be seen by a
doctor, depending on what your need is." Smith says she wants a guarantee that
nurses will be consulted before any changes are made to the health care
system. ...

California:

Debate on the Staffing Ratios between
Jill Furillo, RN, CNA's National Outreach Director and
Jim Lott from the Hospital Association of Southern California
From Which Way LA 89.9 FM, December 4, 2003 (Unofficial CNA Transcript)
<http://www.calnurse.org/112103alert/trans12803.html>

Warren: On January 1st, California will become the first state in the nation
that will require hospitals maintain specific minimum ratios for registered
nurses. Nurses say that means better care for more patients. But hospitals claim
that they're in trouble because there aren't enough nurses. They are
predicting the shutdown of entire units and backups in the emergency rooms. ... The
Nurses Association contends that there isn't a crisis at all, but this is being
manufactured by the hospitals themselves. Jill Furillo is Director of National
Affairs Council (sic) for the California Nurses Association. She, herself, is
a registered nurse and she lobbied for the bill back in 1999. ... Why would
the hospitals manufacture a crisis?
Jill: Well, I think the hospitals have always opposed any effort by either
the state or the county or anyone else to weigh in on how they ought to operate
with respect to staffing. But I would just say that the deterioration in the
working conditions for nurses that has been the primary cause for staff
vacancies in any of these hospitals. And that it's necessarily a systemic nursing
shortage that has caused that. The nurses have opted not to take nursing jobs in
hospitals because they are not attractive positions where they'd be confronted
by poor working conditions, mandatory overtime, and short staffing. Actually,
this poor staffing existed before the shortage and helped actually to create
the nursing shortage and will only be resolved when we begin to move to
implement this nurse-to-patient ratios. I would further say that the hospitals have
known about this since 1999 when the bill was first passed and signed by the
governor. In 2002 the department of health services announced what the ratios
will be and the hospitals had two years to come into compliance with this.
There should be no reason why they are now all of a sudden saying they can't
become compliant when in fact we have 30,000 more nurses this year than we had back
in 1999. I think the hospitals that have come into compliance are those
hospital that have realized that they need to implement safe staffing standards in
their hospitals as well as pay the kind of wages that make it possible to
recruit and retain nurses, and pensions and other things that make the working
conditions more tolerable for nurses. ...

The horns of dilemma
Sometime after New Year's Day, it's a fair bet that a nurse manager in a
local emergency room will face a tough decision: Which law should she break?
Kathy Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, December 5, 2003
<
http://www.bizjournals.com/industries/health_care/hospitals/2003/12/08/sacramento_focus1.html>

California hospitals, already required by federal law to take every patient
who shows up in the emergency room, must soon meet new rules that require a
specific number of nurses on board to treat them. The new staffing ratios take
effect Jan. 1. At least one California hospital has already made a test run in
one nursing unit to see how things ran under the new rules. They couldn't meet
them without pulling nurses away from other duties. The new rules will add
hundreds of millions of dollars a year to healthcare costs that are already a
flash point for labor disputes and a drag on the broader economy. They also raise
the specter of increased liability if a patient dies or suffers other harm at
a time when a hospital isn't meeting the new staffing standards. ...
Crunching the numbers: One thing is certain - two aggressive healthcare unions that
lobbied hard for the ratios will be watching to see when hospitals fall short of
the new standards. California's Safe Staffing Law requires minimum
nurse-to-patient ratios for general acute-care hospitals in the state. Authored by
Sheila Kuehl, now a Democratic state senator from Los Angeles, Assembly Bill 394
was signed by Gov. Gray Davis in 1999. The law left specific numbers up to the
state Department of Health Services, which issued a list in January 2002. When
fully implemented in 2008 they will range from one nurse per patient in trauma
units to one for every five patients in medical/surgery units. Nurses -
backed last month by a report from the Washington, DC-based Academy of Sciences'
Institute of Medicine - say that better working conditions, including adequate
staffing and restrictions on forced overtime, are critical to patient safety.
... Kaiser Permanente has hired nearly 600 new nurses in the last two years,
dropping its vacancy rate to 5 percent in October from 19 percent a year ago.
Still, with the new rules kicking in, Kaiser and the other health systems in
town will have to hire temporary nurses to fill in staffing gaps or close down
beds until patient count goes down or more nurses are available. Keeping watch:
AB 394 is the product of a 10-year campaign by the California Nurses
Association to get a staffing-ratio measure signed into law. The powerful nurses' union
is not about to let hospitals off the hook now. "Some hospitals are making a
good-faith effort to comply with the law and some are digging in their heels,"
said union spokesman Chuck Idelson. The union has worked hard to inform its
members about the ratio rules and how to monitor compliance. "We're going to
try to have ratio monitors in as many units as possible," Idelson said.
"Obviously, it's a big challenge." The union contends there are plenty of nurses
around to meet the new rules. There are 285,000 actively licensed registered nurses
in California, according to Idelson, up more than 30,000 from initial
projections for 2003 by the Bureau of Registered Nursing. Also on guard for
compliance is Service Employees International Union, which represents a variety of
healthcare workers, including some registered nurses. SEIU worries that hospitals
will cut other staff positions in order to hire registered nurses. "This
undercuts the spirit of the law, which is safer care," said SEIU spokeswoman Lisa
Hubbard. "We'll be watching that closely. The intent of the law is more staff,
not less." ...

Pressure on Governor to Alter Nurse Ratio Rules
Laurence Darmiento, Los Angeles Business Journal, December 8, 2003
<
http://www.labusinessjournal.com/tofilelabj.htm?user/user.fas/s=614/fp=3/tp=45?T=open_article,575650&P=article>

Pressure is building on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to delay or amend the
state’s landmark nurse staffing law, with his administration coming under hospital
industry lobbying and even a petition from the Democrat-dominated LA County
Board of Supervisors. The law, set to go into effect on Jan. 1, requires
hospitals to staff wards with specific nurse-to-patient ratios, but the industry
contends that a nursing shortage has made it impossible for many hospitals to
hire enough nurses to do so. Those complaints failed to sway the Davis
administration, which established the specific ratios last year following the law’s
passage in 1999. But with the new governor stressing the importance of making the
state more business friendly, there are new efforts to change the law as its
implementation date approaches. ...

A caring problem: Training, retention issues complicate nursing shortage
Melissa Schorr, Oakland Tribune, December 9, 2003
<http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82%257E1804%257E1819244,00.html>

Every day on the oncology ward, nurse Jan Rodolfo is forced to make a
decision of Solomonic dimensions. Does she respond to the call of the advanced cancer
patient in excruciating pain? Or the one suffering post-operative bleeding?
Before she can decide, she hears a third, struggling to his feet, at imminent
risk of taking a hip-breaking tumble. When the call lights blink on and a nurse
is juggling several patients at once, what happens? "You have to prioritize,"
explains Rodolfo, who works at Summit Hospital in Oakland. "It's not a
decision you want to make. It's not fair to any patient to be the one that's not the
priority. That's what makes you go home and cry at night. When you don't feel
like you've provided good care." ...

Governor Won't Seek to Delay California's RN Staffing Ratios
California Nurses Assn. to Oppose Future Regulatory Changes in Law
California Nurses Association, December 9, 2003
<http://www.calnurse.org/cna/press/121003.html>

The California Nurses Association today welcomed the decision by Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger not to seek delays of the state's historic RN-to-patient ratio
law. At the same time, CNA said it will oppose ongoing efforts by some
hospital industry officials who want changes in the final regulations in upcoming
months. As of January 1, 2004, all hospitals must be staffed in accordance with
the minimum ratios which include at least one RN for every six patients in
general medical and post-surgical units, one RN for every four ER patients, and
one RN for every four pediatric patients. The law also requires hospitals to
increase staffing for patients who need additional care. In recent weeks, some
hospital industry officials have sought additional delays while pressing for
revisions in the law, steps that CNA warned would have adverse consequences for
thousands of California hospital patients. But the Governor's office confirmed
to CNA today that it agrees that the regulations are complete and that it will
not act to intervene prior to January 1. CNA has held that there is no
statutory basis for further delays in the law. "This is very good news for
California patients and their families," said CNA President Deborah Burger, RN. In the
past few weeks, hundreds of RNs have contacted the Governor's office urging
proper implementation of the law. "We are confident that their voice has been
heard, and that the overwhelming public support for safe standards and public
protections in our hospitals is understood." ...

Wanted: Nurses to fill in
Hospitals are frantically hiring to meet the state's
first nurse-to-patient ratio rules that start Jan. 1
Tracy Correa, The Fresno Bee, December 10, 2003
<http://www.fresnobee.com/business/story/7878427p-8758129c.html>

At Saint Agnes Medical Center in Fresno, the number of nurse recruiters has
doubled, and the hospital has been on a hiring blitz bringing in nurses from
across the United States and as far away as Canada. The hospital has hired 50
more nurses this year than in 2002. Community Medical Centers, which operates
three hospitals in Fresno and Clovis, also has been hiring from local colleges
and overseas. "I just had a telephone interview with an agency from the
Philippines," said Carolyn Webster, senior vice president and chief nursing officer
at Community. Webster said she would rather hire more local nurses, but there
aren't enough available. Hospitals want more time, money and leniency to meet
the new guidelines, but they won't get it. Gov. Schwarzenegger won't be
delaying implementation of the law as the hospital industry hoped. The new governor
issued an executive order seeking review of every regulation approved since
1999. ...

California Nurses Association and Service Employees International
Union to Work Together for Quality Health Care in California
Joint News Release, December 15, 2003
<http://www.calnurse.org/cna/press/121503.html>

State’s two biggest health care unions to oppose budget cuts that undermine
health care and new threats to staffing ratio law. Putting aside a decade of
differences, California’s two largest health care unions, the Service Employees
International Union (SEIU) and the California Nurses Association (CNA)
announced today the establishment of a new, powerful cooperation agreement to
confront the corporate health care industry and the growing attacks on health care
services in Sacramento and Washington. One of the first priorities will be joint
efforts to challenge attempts by the hospital industry to delay
implementation or undermine California’s landmark law requiring safe staffing ratios for
registered nurses and to oppose state cuts in health care services. "Today marks
the opening of a new era," said CNA Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro, "in
which the state’s two strongest health care organizations will use our
collective voice and influence to protect patient safety and work to promote the
highest quality of care for all Californians." "We're sending a message to every
public official, hospital CEO, and HMO in the state," said Sal Rosselli,
President of SEIU 250 in Oakland and co-chair of SEIU’s national Health Care
Division. "Health care employees are standing united for the care our communities
need." ...

A Voice for Nurses - A Vision for Healthcare
<http://www.calnurse.org/121503CNASEIUAgreement.pdf>

CNA and the Service Employees International Union have established a
cooperation accord to promote quality patient care and to rally opposition to
health-care industry attacks on the RN staffing ratios and scope of practice laws and
proposed state budget cuts in healthcare services. Under the agreement, CNA
will be the lead decision maker on legislation, regulation and other public
policy matters affecting RNs and RN professional practice working with SEIU RNs.
SEIU will be the lead decision maker in those arenas for other healthcare
employees. SEIU will work with CNA to support implementation and enforcement of the
ratios as RN ratios. CNA and SEIU will fight against the displacement of
other healthcare workers which increases the work load of RNs and jeopardizes
patient care. The accord enables CNA and SEIU to cooperate to improve workplace
conditions, and assist each other in bargaining campaigns with common employers.
CNA will continue to oppose labor-management partnerships; where such
partnerships exist, CNA and SEIU will independently pursue mutually beneficial
bargaining objectives. In organizing, CNA will now have exclusive jurisdiction for
campaigns to represent all non-union RNs in California. SEIU will have
jurisdiction for all other unrepresented healthcare employees. ...

Two health care unions align goals
Judy Silber, Contra Costa Times, December 16, 2003
<http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/business/7502761.htm>

Uniting two powerful health care unions with a historically contentious
rivalry, the California Nurses Association and Service Employees International
Union pledged Monday that they will now support, and not undermine, each other's
activities. The new cooperation agreement will give the competing organizations
a more powerful presence at the state's hospitals and in Sacramento, union
leaders said. The California Nurses Association represents 55,000 registered
nurses, while SEIU represents about 270,000 health care workers at hospitals and
other health care facilities around California. "This is an unprecedented
alliance in terms of pooling the resources and power we have to accomplish common
goals," said Sal Rosselli, president of SEIU local 250. The two unions said
they will no longer compete for members and will instead support their
respective organizing and bargaining efforts. That could mean one union striking in
sympathy with another, increasing their bargaining strength in difficult contract
negotiations. In addition, the new relationship should help the unions better
attain their legislative goals. They say they will fight against proposed
health care budget cuts in Sacramento and work to ensure that implementation of
nurse staffing legislation takes place Jan. 1 as planned. They'll also combat
efforts to repeal a health insurance bill signed by ex-Gov. Gray Davis. "Right
now the priorities in front of us are to figure out how to fight back on
national and state initiatives that weaken health care," said Rose Ann DeMoro,
executive director of the California Nurses Association. ...

Doctor’s San Pablo, Pinole RNs Win Retirement Gains in
New Agreement Ending 13-Month Contra Costa Strike
California Nurses Association, December 16, 2003
<http://www.calnurse.org/cna/press/121603.html>

Registered nurses at Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo and Pinole voted by
98% to approve a new collective bargaining agreement Monday night achieving
significant gains in retirement security and bringing to an end a 13-month
walkout, believed to be the longest RN strike in California history, the California
Nurses Association announced today. Doctors RNs today praised the pact and
conclusion of the strike which began November 4, 2002, and said RNs are making
plans to return to the bedside at the two Western Contra Costa County hospitals
following the agreement with Tenet Healthcare Corporation which owns the
facilities. A break in the long stalemate came with an agreement by Tenet to
substantially improve the RN’s retirement plans, and to establish the first
post-retirement medical benefits at any Tenet hospital. "Our nurses took a courageous
stand in their struggle for retirement security, and we have achieved vital
improvements that will ensure we can retire with dignity," said nurse
negotiator Tami Ronczkevitz, RN, a 20-year nurse at Doctors. Additionally, the RNs will
receive salary increases, improvements in dental and long term disability
benefits, and a stronger voice in patient care issues. ...

Striking nurses vote on contract
Judy Silber, Contra Costa Times, December 16, 2003
<http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/business/7502754.htm>

The votes weren't counted until late Monday night, but the odds appeared high
that the striking registered nurses at Doctors Medical Center San
Pablo/Pinole have accepted a new contract offer, ending a bitter and costly 13-month
strike. For the first time, Tenet Healthcare Corp., the for-profit hospital chain
that runs Doctors Medical Center, has capitulated to nurses' demands by
expanding retiree benefits. Nurses seemed largely enthusiastic about the proposal.
"Personally, I feel like this is a Christmas present for me," said Zita
Ibrahim, a striking nurse who had worked at Doctors Medical Center for 15 years.
"It's more than what I expected." Until Monday, Tenet had been steadfast in its
refusal to give into nurses' demands for a pension plan and retiree medical
benefits. The company insisted that pension plans were a thing of the past and
that offering one would set a dangerous precedent for its 38 other hospitals. ...

California nurses' union ends Tenet hospital strike
Reuters, December 16, 2003
<http://www.forbes.com/newswire/2003/12/16/rtr1183007.html>

New York - The California Nurses Association (CNA) on Tuesday ended a
13-month strike against Tenet Healthcare Corp.'s Doctors Medical Center-San Pablo
after reaching a contract agreement, the union and hospital said. Doctors Medical
Center said the agreement with the union, which represents the hospital's 450
nurses, resolves all issues in the action. The agreement allows nurses to
return to work without loss of seniority, and, in general, provides for wage
increases of 30 percent through the three year term of the contract, the hospital
said. The agreement does not include a defined benefit pension. The hospital
said, however, it agreed to modify its 401(k) plan to provide employer
contributions of up to 8 percent of eligible registered nurse salaries, depending on
length of service, without requiring employees to match the contributions. The
CNA, which said it believes the strike was the longest by registered nurses in
California's history, said the agreement is the first to establish
post-retirement benefits at any Tenet hospital. Under the agreement, nurses meeting
certain eligibility requirements also will receive a 1 percent contribution to a
retirement medical savings account, the hospital said. ...

Contract improves nurses' salaries
Judy Silber, Contra Costa Times, December 17, 2003
<http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/news/7511057.htm>

Ending the longest nursing strike in California history, registered nurses at
Doctors Medical Center San Pablo/Pinole overwhelmingly voted to accept a new
contract that significantly increases wages and breaks new ground by expanding
retirement benefits. The California Nurses Association hailed the contract,
approved late Monday night, as a victory for the union and its resilience
during the 13-month strike. "I'm completely ecstatic," said Rose Ann DeMoro,
executive director of the nurses association. "It was a massive breakthrough." ...

Longest strike by nurses is over
Contract approved at hospitals in San Pablo, Pinole
Jason B. Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle, December 17, 2003
<http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/12/17/BAGV23P1CL1.DTL>

The longest nurses' strike in California history has ended after workers at
two East Bay hospitals overwhelmingly approved a new labor contract with the
nation's second-largest hospital chain. Ninety-eight percent of union nurses at
Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo and Pinole voted to adopt the pact Monday,
halting a bitter 13-month walkout that saw many nurses take jobs at other Bay
Area hospitals. Leaders of the California Nurses Association said the
agreement contains major concessions from Tenet Healthcare Corp., most significantly
the first post-retirement benefit plan at any of the chain's hospitals. Union
officials promised to use the contract as a blueprint in negotiations with
Tenet at its other Bay Area hospital in San Ramon. ...

Settlement ends nurses' strike
East Bay Business Times, December 17, 2003
<http://eastbay.bizjournals.com/eastbay/stories/2003/12/15/daily18.html>

Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo and the California Nurses Association
reached a labor agreement this week, ending a bitter 13-month strike. The
agreement between the Tenet hospital and the state's largest registered nurses' union
calls for wage increases of 30 percent over the three-year term of the
contract, according to the hospital. The agreement excludes a defined benefit
pension, but Doctors said that it agreed to modify its 401k plan to provide employer
contributions of up to 8 percent of eligible RN salaries, without the
necessity of an employee match. Nurses meeting certain eligibility requirements also
will receive a 1 percent contribution to a retirement medical savings account.
The agreement also stipulates that nurses who return to work at the hospital
will not lose seniority, according to Doctors. Following the strike agreement,
the CNA also announced that it has reached an broad agreement with Tenet
Healthcare Corp. that will give nurses at all Tenet hospitals a greater say in
patient care and expedited elections to unionize, according to the CNA. Non-union
nurses will be able to vote within the next five months to join CNA or any
other union. Under the agreement, non-union nurses at 22 Tenet hospitals will
hold elections by the end of April. A statewide contract would include 22
percent pay increases over three years and a new retiree health benefit, funded
solely by Tenet contributions, to help pay for medical care after retirement.
Facility issues will be negotiated by local bargaining teams. A contract also
would include independent RN patient care committees elected by their peers to
enforce safe staffing and patient advocacy issues, with an independent binding
arbitration process to resolve staff ratio disputes.

© 2003 American City Business Journals Inc.

Tenet, nurses at 26 California hospitals reach agreement
Gary Gentile, Associated Press, December 17, 2003
<http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/business/7515907.htm>

Los Angeles - Tenet Healthcare and the California Nurses Association have
reached a labor accord that will let nurses at Tenet's 26 statewide hospitals
vote on whether to unionize and provides pension benefits and strike protections
through 2010. The pact ends a tense relationship between Tenet and the CNA
that was intensified last May when Tenet signed a deal with the Service Employees
International Union and the American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees that would allow nurses and other hospital workers wage and
benefit increases of up to 29 percent over four years if they join the unions. The
accord also comes just days after Tenet and CNA settled a 13-month strike by
nurses at Tenet's Doctors Medical Center in Contra Costa County. The agreement
gives nurses who affiliate with CNA wage increases of 8 percent in the first
year and 7 percent in each of the next two years. Tenet, the nation's
second-largest for-profit hospital chain, will also match up to 5 percent of
contributions into an existing 401(k) retirement plan and will contribute 1 percent of
wages to a new retirement medical savings account for registered nurses who meet
certain requirements. The company gets a no-strike provision through Jan. 1,
2010, with use of neutral arbitrators to resolve any bargaining issues. The
deal also calls for elections by the end of April for nurses at 22 nonunion
Tenet hospitals. Nurses will be free to choose the CNA or another union that
qualifies for the ballot. The deal comes after the SEIU agreed earlier this week to
support the CNA in its campaigns to represent nurses, while the CNA agreed to
support SEIU organizing efforts for other healthcare employees in the state.

© 2003 AP Wire and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.

Tenet, California Nurses Sign Broad Labor Accord
Reuters, December 17, 2003
<http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/466116?mpid=22675>

New York - Tenet Healthcare Corp. said on Wednesday it has entered an
agreement with the California Nurses Association that includes a no-strike provision
until January 1, 2010, and provides for arbitration to resolve disputes. The
agreement was announced the day after the No. 2 US hospital chain reached a
labor agreement that ended a 13-month strike by the union's nurses at Doctors
Medical Center-San Pablo. The agreement is similar to Tenet's deal with the
Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of Federal,
State, County and Municipal Employees announced in May. Tenet, which is facing a
litany of regulatory issues including an investigation of its Medicare billing,
said the accord is "designed to give Tenet's hospital subsidiaries in
California a long period of predictability in wage costs without labor disruptions."
...

California Nurses Association and Tenet Healthcare
Reach Agreement On Stronger Voice for RNs
on Patient Protections and Fair Elections
California Nurses Association, December 17, 2003
<http://www.calnurse.org/cna/press/121703.html>

California’s largest RN organization and hospital system – Tenet Healthcare
Corporation and the California Nurses Association – have reached a
groundbreaking agreement providing a framework for RNs to have an increased voice in
patient protections in Tenet hospitals and fair, expedited elections. The
agreement, approved Tuesday by the CNA RN Statewide Tenet Council, comprised of
representatives of RNs at 26 Tenet hospitals, is a major breakthrough for Tenet RNs.
It provides for expedited fair elections ending months of delays that have
held up secret ballot elections for Tenet RNs, and establishes assurances of a
strong independent patient advocacy voice and the first ever retiree health
benefits for Tenet RNs who choose to join CNA. Non-union Tenet RNs will be able
to vote within the next five months on affiliation with CNA or any other union
of their choice. The announcement follows the settlement announced Tuesday of
a 13-month strike by CNA-represented RNs at Tenet’s Doctors Medical Center in
Contra Costa County, Ca. Doctors RNs ratified the strike settlement agreement
on Monday which provides improved retirement benefits that set a new standard
for RNs in Tenet. "This agreement is a monumental achievement for Tenet RNs
who have emphatically demonstrated their desire for fair elections and an
opportunity to join with CNA to improve standards for their colleagues and
patients," said CNA President Deborah Burger, RN. CNA Executive Director Rose Ann
DeMoro commended Tenet’s top administrators for their "genuine desire to resolve
our differences in an even handed manner that respects the aspirations of their
RNs and their commitment to work with CNA and the RNs to enhance the patient
care environment and promote the role of RNs in Tenet hospitals." ...

Tenet, nurses come to terms; vote on unionization OK'd
Modesto Bee, December 18, 2003
<http://www.modbee.com/local/story/7912304p-8789535c.html>

Los Angeles - Tenet Healthcare and the California Nurses Association have
reached a labor accord that will let nurses at Tenet's 26 hospitals in the state
vote on whether to unionize. The agreement, which applies to nonunion
hospitals including Doctors Medical Center of Modesto and Doctors Hospital of Manteca,
provides for wage increases, pension benefits and strike protections through
2010. The pact ends a tense relationship between Tenet and the CNA that became
more strained in May when Tenet signed a deal with the Service Employees
International Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees. That accord allowed nurses and other hospital workers wage and benefit
increases of up to 29 percent over four years if they joined those unions.
The new accord also comes just days after Tenet and CNA settled a 13-month
strike by nurses at a Tenet hospital in Contra Costa County. The agreement gives
nurses who affiliate with CNA wage increases of 8 percent in the first year and
7 percent in each of the next two years. ...

Tenet Signs Contract With Union for Nurses
The deal, which grants pay raises in each of the
next three years, comes amid an RN shortage.
Debora Vrana, Los Angeles Times, December 18, 2003
<http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tenet18dec18,1,1773987.story>

Tenet Healthcare Corp. said Wednesday that it signed a pact with California's
largest registered nurses union, a move aimed at buying labor peace and
helping the troubled hospital company meet the mandates of a new state law on nurse
staffing. Under the accord with the California Nurses Assn., Tenet said, CNA
nurses at Tenet hospitals in the state would receive pay raises of 8% in the
first year and 7% in the next two years. In exchange, the San Francisco-based
(sic) nurses' union - one of Tenet's harshest critics during the last year -
agreed to a six-year no-strike provision and mandatory arbitration of disputes.
The terms of the agreement will take effect immediately at five Tenet
hospitals that are represented by the CNA and would apply to other Tenet hospitals in
the state that the nurses' association organizes. The CNA has filed petitions
to unionize 19 Tenet hospitals in California, and the labor pact essentially
paves the way for their organizing. Tenet owns about 40 hospitals in the state,
mostly in Southern California, and has 32,000 employees, including 9,800
registered nurses. ...

Call to broaden strike
Food workers' union says it plans to shut down certain markets
George Raine, San Francisco Chronicle, December 18, 2003
<
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/12/18/BUGI93PGJI1.DTL&type=business>

One day after union leaders called for picketing at targeted Safeway grocery
stores across the country, labor leaders went a step further, saying they may
try for a "complete shutdown" of certain markets to protest the 68-day dispute
that has 70,000 Southern California workers locked out or on strike. The
union will not reveal its plans in any detail, except to say there will be "a
variety of tactics,'' to include demonstrations and support from community groups
"that may pick a store and target that store for a complete shutdown,'' said
the Greg Denier, a spokesman for the United Food and Commercial Workers union.
He added, "A number of civil-rights leaders are willing to engage in civil
disobedience at Safeway locations.'' ...

Veteran Strikebreaker Helps Keep Ralphs Supplied
The supermarket chain is relying on Clifford Nuckols, who has a history of
legal problems.
Nancy Cleeland & Melinda Fulmer, Los Angeles Times, December 19, 2003
<
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-nuckols19dec19,1,632381.story?coll=la-headlines-business>

To keep its warehouses stocked and its delivery trucks running without the
Teamsters union, Ralphs Grocery Co. has turned to a convicted felon with a
history of legal woes. Clifford L. Nuckols, a veteran of the strikebreaking
business, has hired hundreds of people and brought them from around the country to
the Los Angeles area, where the supermarket strike and lockout are in their
tenth week. Booked two to a room at hotels in Burbank and Compton, the replacement
workers are packed every day into rented vans and driven past pickets from
the United Food and Commercial Workers union and knots of jeering Teamsters at
Ralphs warehouses in Glendale and Compton. ...

Governor cuts labor institute funding
Union leaders decry the action, but business leaders
see the UC institution as no friend of theirs.
Andy Furillo, Sacramento Bee, December 20, 2003
<http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/7983481p-8920232c.html>

As part of his unilateral budget-cutting action this week, Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger eliminated funding for what had been the intellectual driving force
behind the burgeoning labor movement in California. The governor's action to
cut $150 million from this year's budget - initiated to help fund the car tax
rollback - included a $2 million hit on the University of California's Institute
for Labor and Employment. H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the GOP governor's
Department of Finance, said the cut was part of Schwarzenegger's effort to resolve
the state's budget mess and was not intended to reflect any ideological slant.
"Our focus was to identify areas where savings could be achieved while at the
same time maintaining the core mission (of the university)," Palmer said. "We
did that in a number of areas. And this is one of them." Assemblywoman Jackie
Goldberg, D-Los Angeles, said Schwarzenegger's elimination of the labor
institute sends a strong signal about his thinking when it comes to working
people's efforts to move up in society. ...

Week 11: On the UFCW Picket Lines
Shannon Donato, FriendsofLabor.com, December 22, 2003
<http://www.friendsoflabor.com>

Talks on Friday December 19th ended with the employers refusing to accept the
maintenance of benefits package proposed by the UFCW negotiators. (Read the
proposed package <
http://www.ufcw770.org/ufcw770/Unions%20Comprehensive%20Proposal%20Dec%2019.pdf>) Union leaders do not expect to return to the table before
January, 2004. Picket Lines at Vons/Safeway Distribution Centers will remain
in effect. Teamster drivers are expected to honor these picket lines manned by
the UFCW. Last week's Rally and March in Beverly Hills was recorded as the
biggest labor rally in Los Angeles history. Having personally attended with
members of the ILWU, and watching the line extend as far as the eye could see,
LAPD estimated the crowd at 10,000 while the area newspapers stated 2,000 people.
Congratulations to the UFCW and the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor
for organizing and energizing the labor movement in LA!

Big Victory for Scripps Encinitas Registered Nurses
Vote by 63% to Join California Nurses Association
California Nurses Association, December 20, 2003
<http://www.calnurse.org/cna/press/122003.html>

In an election expected to send tremors throughout the hospital scene in San
Diego, Registered Nurses at Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas in northern
San Diego County voted by 63 percent Friday night to join the California Nurses
Association, the state’s largest organization of RNs, CNA announced today. The
final vote was 135 to 78, a 63% victory for union representation by CNA in a
secret ballot election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board. About
94% of the eligible RNs at the hospital voted. Scripps Encinitas is a part of
the Scripps Health system, which operates five hospitals and urgent care
facilities in San Diego County and accounts for one-third of all acute care
services in the county. RNs at other Scripps hospitals have also been meeting with
CNA, and the results Friday night are expected to resonate all over the Scripps
system as well as through other San Diego area hospitals. ...

Scripps nurses in Encinitas OK unionization
Leslie Berestein, San Diego Union-Tribune, December 23, 2003
<http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20031223-9999_1b23scripps.html>

Nurses at Scripps Memorial Hospital-Encinitas have elected to unionize,
becoming the second group of registered nurses in the San Diego area to join the
California Nurses Association in the last two years. In a vote late Friday among
234 registered nurses, 63 percent favored unionization. "We're excited about
moving forward and going to the negotiating table," said Carolyn Darrow, an
interventional radiology nurse at Scripps in Encinitas. "It's going to help us
retain our quality nurses, and that's important." The Encinitas nurses said
they were encouraged by news of a favorable contract won last May by registered
nurses who work for Palomar Pomerado Health, which owns Palomar Medical Center
in Escondido and Pomerado Hospital in Poway. In June 2002, 550 of the Palomar
Pomerado nurses voted to unionize. ...

Countdown to Safe Staffing - RN Ratios in Effect January 1
Hospital Industry Lobby Continues Efforts to
Undermine the Law, California Nurses Assn. Warns
California Nurses Association, December 23, 2003
<http://www.calnurse.org/cna/press/122303.html>

With just over one week to go before final implementation of the nation's
first mandated minimum staffing ratios for registered nurses, some hospitals have
made genuine progress toward compliance even as the lobbying arm of the
hospital industry continues efforts to erode the law, said the California Nurses
Association today. As of January 1, 2004, all hospitals must be staffed in
accordance with the minimum ratios which include at least one RN for every six
patients in general medical and post-surgical units, one RN for every four ER
patients, and one RN for every four pediatric patients. The law also requires
hospitals to increase staffing for patients who need additional care. "The RN
ratios should permanently alter the healthcare landscape after January 1," said
Deborah Burger, RN, president of the CNA which sponsored the law. "Every major
scientific study has documented that safe RN staffing reduces preventable
hospital death rates, infections and accidents, and improves the therapeutic
environment for recovery. Hospitals that fail to comply with the letter and spirit
of the law are placing their patients at risk," said Burger. "All patients
deserve safe care and should demand no less." ...

Hospitals gear up for staffing requirements
Rebecca Vesely, Oakland Tribune, December 29, 2003
<http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82~1865~1858854,00.html>

Patients who find themselves at the hospital on New Year's Day probably won't
notice anything different from the day before, except the usual hectic
atmosphere of a hospital around the holidays. But for California nurses and
hospitals, Jan. 1 marks the start of a statewide experiment - the first in the nation
- on whether more nurses caring for fewer patients means less staff burnout
and better patient outcomes. On Thursday, a state law requiring hospitals to
meet minimum nurse-to-patient ratios goes into effect. Signed in 1999 by former
Gov. Gray Davis, AB 394, known as the Safe Staffing Law, sets minimum
nurse-to-patient ratios on all hospital units. The ratios range from one nurse per
patient (1:1) to one nurse for eight patients (1:8), depending on the unit. Some
units, such as the intensive care unit, or ICU, have had minimum ratios for
years. But in areas of the hospital where most patients are treated -
medical/surgical and the emergency department, for instance - ratios will be newly
enforced. ...

Northern pickets have limited effect
Conor Dougherty, San Diego Union-Tribune, January 1, 2004
<http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20040101-9999_1b1grocery.html>

San Francisco – On a cold morning last month, hundreds of union sympathizers,
undeterred by rain, rallied to support the 70,000 Southern California grocery
workers who are on strike or locked out. Community leaders here, including
Mayor-elect Gavin Newsom, spoke from the back of a flatbed truck, where they
called on shoppers to boycott Safeway, which owns the Vons chain in Southern
California. "I have tremendous concern that this could happen here in Northern
California," Newsom said. "There's only one way to stop it: Let's set a precedent
in Southern California." But the noise and pickets didn't stop Marjorie
Blake, a 63-year-old office manager. "I'm crossing because it's not local at the
moment," Blake said as she put groceries into the back of her car. The United
Food and Commercial Workers union expanded its picket lines to Northern
California almost two months ago in an effort to put pressure on the Safeway chain,
which is based near here in Pleasanton and has been characterized by the union
as the toughest negotiator out of the three supermarket companies involved in
the dispute. ...

The governor vs. labor
San Francisco Chronicle, January 5, 2004
<
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/01/05/EDGAC40NLM1.DTL>

We feel the pain of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state Legislature as
they try to close a multi-billion-dollar budget deficit, but Schwarzenegger
should not be wielding the budget as a crude tool to go after people or
institutions he may differ with politically or philosophically, especially those
operating within the University of California. That certainly is what he seems to be
doing with his proposal to cut $2 million in state funding for UC's Institute
for Labor and Employment at UCLA and UC Berkeley, which will effectively
eliminate it. Schwarzenegger's aides say innocently that targeting the institute
is not ideologically motivated, but is just a cost-cutting measure. That
explanation rings hollow, however, in light of the fact that the institute is the
only one specifically named in his list of midyear cuts totaling $150 million.
The institute unashamedly focuses on issues of concern to workers - including
minimum and "living" wages, health insurance and workers' compensation. Among
its many projects and studies, the institute puts out an annual report titled
"The State of California Labor." Other publications include a manual for
workers on "Jobs Rights, Protections and Remedies," a report on "Labor Standards and
Quality of Care in California's Services for People with Developmental
Disabilities" and another, "Paid Family Leave in California: An Analysis of Costs
and Benefits." Activities like these have infuriated pro-business groups and
think tanks, which have railed against the UC labor institute and others like it
around the nation as nothing more than fronts for labor unions. Yet none of
these pro-business groups ever questions the far more substantial state support
for UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and "pro business" activities at
other California campuses. ...

Day 94/Week 14 of the UFCW Strike and Lock out
of over 71,000 Members in Southern California
International Longshore & Warehouse Union
(ILWU) Locals 13 & 63 donate $200,000
Shannon D. Donato, Friends of Labor, January 12, 2004
<http://www.friendsoflabor.com>

ILWU Local 13 in Wilmington, in a unanimous vote contributes $100,000. to be
paid to the UFCW for medical benefit co pays of $365.00 per member. In a plan
to extend the UFCW's medical until March 31st of the neediest families who
have ongoing health needs such as cancer, diabetes, and heart conditions.
Immediately following, the membership of Local 13 "passed the hat" to give money to
the Harry Bridges Institute "Adopt-A-UFCW-Family" program. Wallets and hearts
of the Longshore members poured out over $15,000. from the rank-and-file! They
announced Solidarity with the 7 UFCW members in attendance representing three
of the seven Southern California Locals. Members were from UFCW Locals 1442,
324 and 770. On the same night, ILWU Local 63 Marine Clerks in San Pedro passed
a motion to contribute $75,000. over the next three months to the Harry
Bridges Institute Adopt-A-UFCW-Family program. Additional donations totaling over
$5,000 came from the floor in the commitment to help the UFCW last one day
longer! ...

Nurses union to review staffing
Survey to determine if state facilities complying with law effective Jan. 1
Tri-Valley Herald, January 14, 2004
<http://www.trivalleyherald.com/Stories/0,1413,86~10669~1890084,00.html#>

The California Nurses Association - the country's largest union representing
registered nurses - on Tuesday began a survey of RNs at every hospital in the
state to determine if facilities are complying with a new staffing law that
went into effect Jan. 1. "With the audit we hope to provide a more detailed
answer for patients and their families to assess how their local hospitals are
faring on compliance with the law," the association's president Deborah Burger
said in a release. The staffing law, signed by former Gov. Gray Davis in 1999,
establishes set ratios on how many patients can be assigned to each nurse.
Ratios range from one nurse for each patient on the trauma unit to one nurse to
every eight patients in the well-baby nursery. Ratios were set by Department of
Health Services with hospitals' and nurses' input. The law is aimed to improve
patient outcomes and reduce nurse burnout and turnover. Survey questions will
address whether hospitals are providing the same staffing for all shifts, as
required by the law. Nurses will also be asked whether hospitals are closing
beds, limiting patient admissions or displacing aides and other caregivers to
meet the ratio law. The audit will be completed at the end of January and the
results will be made public. ...

ILWU Shows Solidarity: Workers Pledge $1 Million In Funds!
Friends of Labor, January 20, 2004
<http://www.friendsoflabor.com>

Members of ILWU locals pledged Tuesday to raise more than $1 million for a
health care fund for striking and locked-out grocery employees. With the job
action in its fourth month, UFCW grocery clerks are facing the loss of health
benefits because employers are no longer paying into the benefit trust. Tuesday,
ILWU locals in the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles announced they would
make an immediate payment of $155,000 to help the neediest families. Local 13
pledged to raise up to $850,000 over the next six months, with Local 94 pledging
$90,000 and Local 63 pledging $75,000. Joe Donato, President of Local 13 said
"Grocery workers are locked in a struggle that threatens the health care of
every working family in America. Safeway and other companies are attacking
those in need, so working men and women need to stand up and make sure working
families continue to have care." Donato said the funds from Local 13 come as an
initial contribution of $100,000 directly to health care payments for the
neediest grocery workers. "We call on every union in California and across the
country to join the Fight for Health Care by supporting the maintenance of health
benefits and taking the fight to the stores in their communities." Donato also
said the nonprofit Harry Bridges Institute in San Pedro has started an "Adopt
a UFCW Family" program which pays rent, mortgages, health care, utilities and
food expenses for some families. Some 70,000 members of the United Food and
Commercial International Workers union in Central and Southern California
walked off their jobs at Vons on October 11th. That prompted Albertsons and Ralphs
stores to lock out their workers in solidarity with Vons. The dispute centers
mostly on management's insistence that workers share some of the costs of
providing health care. Terry O'Neil of Ralphs said the company has no official
comment.

Action to Expand Nationwide

Meanwhile, the AFL-CIO said it is taking control of a national strategy for
the supermarket strike and lockout, assigning two labor war veterans to help
exert strong pressure on management. The campaign will be led by Richard Trumka,
who played a pivotal role in resolving the West Coast port lockout, and Ron
Judd, who orchestrated AFL-CIO protests at the turbulent World Trade
Organization meeting in Seattle. "These grocery chains have miscalculated the resolve of
American workers," Trumka said. "The 13 million members of the AFL-CIO will
do whatever it takes to make sure these striking and locked-out workers hold
the line one day longer than the employers." The plan involves pressuring the
supermarket companies by hounding executives and directors with phone calls and
visits and staging demonstrations across the country.

Kampuchea:

Cambodian union boss (sic) shot dead
A prominent Cambodian labour leader who was affiliated with the country's
main opposition party has been shot dead in the capital, Phnom Penh.
BBC News, January 22, 2004
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3418821.stm>

Witnesses said the president of the Cambodian Free Trade Union of Workers,
Chea Vichea, was shot at close range. He helped to organise unions at garment
factories and had close ties to the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP). The
motive for the attack is not yet clear but it is the latest in a series of
suspected political killings. A Cambodian government spokesman, whilst condemning the
murder, told the BBC the government he did not think the murder was
politically motivated but more likely the result of a personal dispute. A BBC
correspondent says this view may be greeted with some scepticism.

Political Violence

Touch Sunnich, singer affiliated with Funcinpec, shot in the face, 21 Oct
Lay Kong, SRP activist, killed 10 Jan
Chhin La and Keo Chan, SRP activists, killed 15 Jan
Chou Chetharith, journalist affiliated with Funcinpec, killed 18 Jan

At least three members of the Sam Rainsy Party have been killed in recent
weeks. Boun Maung Ung, a spokesman for the party, said that after the recent
election campaign Chea Vichea had received a death threat delivered via a text
message on his mobile phone. But he had had so many threats, according to the
opposition spokesman, that he had become used to them and rarely slept in the
same location twice. The current violence is being described as the worst since
the 1998 elections, our correspondent says.

Labour loss

Chea Vichea's murder has been described as a loss to the country and its
workers. He and the labour union he led are credited with helping to transform
conditions within the garment industry in Cambodia for the more than 200,000
workers it employs. Chea Vichea was a prominent campaigner, known for his hard
bargaining with factory owners and the government. The opposition has warned that
the murder of the labour leader is likely to cast a shadow over negotiations
currently under way to form a government. Although elections were held six
months ago, the parties needed to form a coalition to lead the country have been
unable to agree on a power-sharing arrangement - in effect consigning Cambodia
to a state of political limbo.

© BBC MMIV

Washington:

Bargaining to begin
Health care coverage and Wal-Mart loom large as unions for
nurses, grocery workers and others prepare for contract talks
Paul Nyhan, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 29, 2003
<http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/154308_labor0429.html>

Looking for the face of Seattle labor relations in 2004? Go grocery shopping
or visit the doctor. Instead of Machinists and Longshore workers, grocery
clerks and nurses will crowd bargaining tables around Western Washington next
year. Negotiators will work on contracts for about 10,500 local grocery workers
and 11,000 health care employees. The grocery talks represent a new challenge
for organized labor, reflecting its focus on the US economy's expanding service
sector. In California, workers already are locked in a bitter 2-month-old
dispute with Safeway Corp. and Kroger Co., and Seattle-area unions negotiate with
many of the same chains next year. Hanging over the Seattle and California
grocery negotiations is a giant corporation with no union workers, Wal-Mart
Stores Inc., according to Nelson Lichtenstein, author of "State of the Union: A
Century of American Labor." California grocers already cited Wal-Mart's plans to
open 40 stores with low-wage workers. Wal-Mart and companies like it are
players because their lower wages threaten to push down pay at competitors' stores,
creating tension between managers and union members, and eventually conflict,
Lichtenstein said. "I think we are going to have more high profile
conflicts," said Lichtenstein, a professor at the University of California-Santa
Barbara. Wal-Mart "is an 800-pound gorilla." The grocery talks stand as potentially
the biggest labor story around Seattle in 2004. That's partially because the
first wave of contracts, which expire in May, historically set the pattern for
pacts covering 20,000 more workers, ranging from Bellingham to Centralia,
according to an industry source. Although the United Food and Commercial Workers
union hopes to start preliminary negotiations early next year, it doesn't have a
clear sense of management's mood. ... Union nurses also will enter contract
talks concerned about their health care. In June, contracts begin expiring at
local hospitals, including some of the region's biggest, such as Swedish
Medical Center, Harborview Medical Center, Group Health Cooperative, covering nearly
11,000 workers, according to Diane Sosne, president of Service Employees
International Union District 1199NW. Beyond health care, the union wants to tackle
staffing, recruitment and retention and a host of other issues, Sosne said.
In addition, union officials hope to forge a political partnership with
employers because they realize they can't solve all their problems at the bargaining
table, she added. ...

Web Directory:

AARN <
http://www.aarn.org>
Australian Nursing Federation <http://www.anf.org.au>
California Nurses Association <http://www.calnurse.org
>
Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions <http://www.nursesunions.ca>
CCDS <
http://www.cofc.org>
Committee for Health Care for Massachusetts <
http://www.healthcareformass.org>
Irish Nurses Organisation <http://www.ino.ie>
Labor Party <
http://www.thelaborparty.org>
LabourStart <
http://www.labourstart.org>
Maine State Nurses Association <
http://www.mainenurse.org>
Massachusetts Ad Hoc Committee <http://www.massadhoc.org>
Massachusetts Green-Rainbow Party <
http://www.green-rainbow.org>
Massachusetts Nurses Association <http://www.massnurses.org
>
MASS-CARE <
http://www.masscare.org>
New York Professional Nurses Union <http://www.nypnu.org>
New Zealand Nurses Organisation <http://www.nzno.org.nz>
PASNAP <
http://www.pennanurses.org>
PNHP <
http://www.pnhp.org>
Québec Nurses’ Federation <http://www.fiiq.qc.ca>
Revolution Magazine <
http://www.revolutionmag.com>
Saint Louis Area Nurses Coalition <http://www.slanc.org>
Seachange Bulletin <
http://www.seachangebulletin.org>
Southern Arizona Nurses Coalition <
http://SAZNC.homestead.com>
Union Web Services <
http://www.unionwebservices.com>
Women’s Universal Health Initiative <http://www.WUHI.org>

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