September 2010 RN News

September 2010
www.seiu121rn.org
121RN Officer, Delegate Elections Upcoming
SEIU Local 121RN Officer and Delegate elections are
coming up in the next few months as current terms for
the offices of President, Vice President and Secretary
Treasurer expire December 31.
Current officers are: President Gayle Batiste, Northridge; Vice President Jeannie King, Pomona Valley; and
Secretary/Treasurer Becky Long, Los Robles. Batiste
and King are running unopposed for their current positions. Nanette Logan of Los Robles and Jim Owen of
Providence Tarzana are running for the Secretary Treasurer position. New executive officers will serve from
January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2013.
Local 121RN will also elect 11 delegates who will
attend events that require votes from SEIU Locals.
For example, there is an SEIU International Convention in 2012, plus we may need delegates for state or
national councils and conferences.
A biography and summary of goals of candidates
in each contested position will be mailed with a voting ballot to each dues-paying Local 121RN member.
Ballots will be mailed by September 16 and must be
returned by October 19, 2010. The California Election
Company and the Local 121RN Ballot Committee
will count ballots October 19 and results will be
posted on our website (www.seiu121rn.org) by the
end of the day October 20, 2010.
Look for your
ballot in the
mail. Fill it out
and return to
Local 121RN by
October 19!
More Nurses Volunteer to Help Injured Haitians
Several groups of Local 121RN
nurses are prepared to head to Haiti
to provide medical relief to residents
of the island nation that was struck by
a devastating earthquake in January.
Five Local 121RN nurses ‑ Kim Bingaman, Freddie Monroe, Bryant Baldorado
and Carolyn Lucas,
all of Northridge
Hospital
Medical
Center, and Andrea
Caldentey of Providence St. Joseph
Medical Center ‑ volunteered their nursing services for a
week or more in Haiti
earlier this year.
SEIU
international
is
contributLocal 121RN paid baggage fees for Caldentey’s
group of healthcare workers because they had to ing $300 per nurse
bring medicine and their own food. Caldentey to Project Medishare and paying for
is shown here at work in Haiti in February.
airfare from Los Angeles to Miami. Konbit, a strategic partnership between leaders of South
Florida’s Haitian community,
prominent businesspeople, elected
officials, and labor and relief organizations with a shared vision
of combining forces to provide
immediate relief, has arranged for
flights from Miami to Haiti.
Northridge Registered Nurses
Alise Hatley and Pippa Gossett
leave October 22, and Aileen Legarda, Judith Lamasan, Brittany
Vowels, Bryant Baldorado leave
Please see HAITI / Page 3
To donate money, go to
www.projectmedishare.org
www.seiu121rn.org
Nurses, Healthcare Workers Picket for Safety
June 18, 2010 - Hundreds of Registered Nurses
and other healthcare workers waved signs and
walked the sidewalk in front of Riverside Community Hospital, West Hills Hospital & Medical Center, and Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center
June 16 through 18 in a show of solidarity for
worker safety issues our members want added to
their collective bargaining agreements.
The hospitals’ owner, HCA, has not agreed to proposals by our Local 121RN Bargaining Team that would
provide lift and transport teams to help move patients
and heavy equipment, guarantee that a nurse has the
option of 8 hours off between calls if needed due to fatigue, and provide additional staff to keep nurses and
other workers within state mandated ratios, even during their breaks and meal period.
The Latest in HCA Bargaining
Ermalinda Magallanes, RN,
at Hollywood Presbyterian,
showed support.
As Registered Nurses, we love our
patients and feel a special satisfaction
when the best outcome for each patient
is achieved. But let’s face it. Not everyone can do what we do. It’s not just the
education and training. It takes a person with a special dedication to those
who are sick and suffering.
That said, we also expect to be
compensated for this unique mix of
qualities and education. Through
our Union’s research, it’s clear that
Los Robles, Riverside and West
Hills are not competitive enough to
keep long-time nurses. Only 9 percent of Los Robles, 8 percent of Riverside and 14 percent of West Hills
nurses have been with the hospitals
for 20 or more years. It’s common
knowledge that retaining nurses
saves hospitals money.
The HCA-member Bargaining
Team presented HCA with their
proposals on wages and benefits in
mid-August.
The proposals are geared toward
retaining experienced nurses, recognizing nurses’ contributions to
HCA’s economic success and bringing RNs closer to parity with colleagues at similar hospitals.
For full details on HCA member
bargaining, go to www.seiu121rn.org
and click on HCA in the yellow bar
near the top of the page.
From left: Los Robles picket
on June 18, West Hills June
17, and Riverside June 16.
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RN News / September 2010
Helping Others, Empowering Ourselves
Applications Being Accepted
for Educational Scholarships
Solidarity Run
SEIU Local 121RN will again award qualifying
members a $1,000 educational scholarship to help
defray the costs of extended nursing or healthcarerelated educational pursuits. Ten members will be
chosen according to the following criteria:
• Members will be selected by seniority based upon
adjusted hire date.
• Must be a member of Local 121RN in good standing for at least 12 months prior to application.
• Priority is given to those who have not received a
SEIU Local 121RN Scholarship in the past.
• Must be enrolled at an accredited school in a nursing or healthcare-related field.
• Members are eligible for Local 121RN scholarship
every other year.
Recipients will be selected from candidates who successfully complete the application process and submit
all supporting materials prior to the deadline of October
31, 2010. Applications are available through your Union
Representative or by going to www.seiu121rn.org and
clicking on the Educational Scholarship box at the bottom of the righthand column.
121RN Vice President Jeannie King participated
in a 5k run on April 25, 2010 at The Claremont
Colleges to benefit the Day Labor Center in
Pomona. Jose Calderon, Ph.D., a sociology professor at Pitzer College, and Jeannie’s husband
Dennis King are in bottom photo. Day laborers
supported Pomona RNs during their 2007 strike.
HAITI: Nurses Still Needed to Help Thousands of Injured
Continued from Page 1
Oct. 15. Joanna Ortiz-Whalen, Roxanne Ojeda and
Shalimar Tomaneng, all of Northridge, and Cindy
Petrak of Providence Tarzana Medical Center, tentatively leave Oct. 15.
The following nurses are tentatively slated to head to
Haiti on Oct. 29: Nina Wells and Karyn Elsenbach of St.
RN News / September 2010
John’s Regional Medical Center, and Jaime Deloera,
Alma Loera, Susana Sanchez, Christine Bustos and Elsa
Magdaleno of Northridge Hospital Medical Center.
If you would like to volunteer your nursing skills
through the Local 121RN Disaster Response Nursing
Team, contact Chris Slane, RN, at (805) 279-1198 or
[email protected].
3
Local Purchases Pasadena Building as Permanent Asset
Our Local 121RN leadership
council voted to approve the purchase of a new headquarters
building in Pasadena at the regular Leadership Council meeting in
August, and ownership was transferred to the Local on August 31.
“This will be a permanent asset for Local 121RN nurse members now and in the future, ”
Weinstein said.
Chief Financial Officer Claritz
Vergel shopped extensively for
the most cost-effective loan with
the most favorable terms. She arranged for a 12-year loan with
Farmers & Merchants Bank so that
the building is owned by the Local
outright in the least amount of
time without using all of the Local’s current reserves. With rents
in the LA area always at a premium, the building will allow
nurses to be rent-free in 12 years.
“Down the road, this will
save members a lot of money
while growing equity at the
same time,” said President Gayle
Batiste, RN, Northridge Hospital
Medical Center.
Most North Hollywood staff
will not move into the two-story
building at 1040 Lincoln Avenue
in Pasadena until 2012. The building is being leased back to the previous owners until then.
Local 121RN’s newly
purchased building in
Pasadena. North Hollywood staff will move in
by April of 2012.
95% Barlow Voters Approve New 3-Year Contract
Registered Nurse members of Local 121RN and
Respiratory Therapists, LVNs, CNAs, Monitor Techs
and other UHW-W members voted overwhelmingly
to approve a new three-year contract that will give
all bargaining unit members, including per diem
workers, a 2 percent annual raise. This year’s raise
will be retroactive to March 17 and will include overtime payments for those who worked more than 40
hours in a week.
Most members were satisfied with the contract,
which includes increases to longevity pay for 15 and
4146 Lankershim Blvd., Ste. 404, North Hollywood, CA 91602
20 years of service and a new 30-year longevity pay
increase. The contract improves standby pay and includes an increase to the base rate for lead RCPs.
There will be no change to employee benefit plans
and no increase in percentage of payment by the employee. Current holidays are maintained, including one
floating holiday and the employee’s birthday holiday.
A big thank you for the hard work put in by our
RN Bargaining Team member Maria Somoza, as well
as UHW team members Parin Upadhyay, Rafael
Sandoval and Stephanie Allen!