Community Med nurses to hold pre-election rally Monday

TOMS RIVER, NJ, Jan. 4, 2007 – For three years, registered nurses at Community Medical Center have withstood management intimidation in an effort to bring fairness to their workplace.

Now, just days prior to their vote to elect the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) their collective bargaining representative, the nurses will give one more demonstration of their unity.

The RNs will hold a pre-election rally at 5:30 p.m., Monday, Jan. 8, in front of the hospital at 99 Highway 37 West in Toms River. The nurses will be joined by supporters from local labor and community organizations and by their colleagues from NYSNA bargaining units in New Jersey and New York.

“This election is all about respect,” said Barbara Conklin, RN, NYSNA’s organizing director. “CMC nurses want us to help them fight for better working conditions. They feel that management isn’t giving them an opportunity to take part in the decision-making that affects their patients and their practice. Joining a union will help them gain some control.”

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has set Thursday, Jan. 11, as the date for the election. Voting will be from 6 to 9 a.m., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., and 6 to 9 p.m. in the hospital’s auditorium.

A majority of the nurses have indicated they want NYSNA to be their union. But CMC management has paid a union-busting consultant hundreds of thousands of dollars to conduct a campaign of threats and lies.

Concerned about the management’s conduct during the last election in February 2005, NLRB officials have already warned the employer not to line the hallway to the voting site with management representatives.

Despite receiving two invitations from NYSNA, management refused to participate in a community forum on the election Wednesday evening. CMC nurses posed questions about union representation to a panel of NYSNA leaders through a moderator. Community members attended and expressed their support for the nurses’ campaign.

With more than 34,000 members, NYSNA is the oldest and largest state nurses’ association in the nation. It is an influential union for RNs, representing nurses in New York and New Jersey. Offering a wide range of services to its members, NYSNA fosters high standards of nursing education and practice and works to advance the profession through legislative activity. It is a constituent of the American Nurses Association and of the United American Nurses, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO.

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