NEW YORK NURSE: January 2008
by Mark Genovese
Nurses in public benefit corporations at opposite ends of the state are stepping up their media campaigns this winter. The goal is to gain the support of the voting public and put pressure on local governments and corporation boards. Both campaigns, funded by the Delegate Assembly’s Protected Action Fund, focus on the theme: “Nurses deserve a fair contract. It’s a matter of RESPECT!”
A 30-second television spot on cable systems in Westchester, Orange, Rockland, Sullivan, and Ulster counties dramatizes how a fair contract is the best means of ensuring quality patient care at the Westchester County Healthcare Corporation. The nurses have been trying for the past three years to negotiate a new contract with the public benefit corporation.
In Erie County, advertising is appearing on buses, bus shelters, and rapid transit stops near Erie County Medical Center and in downtown Buffalo. The nurses at the Medical Center, the County Health Department, and the County Home have already rejected two management offers that called for unfair givebacks in paid days off, overtime compensation, and retirement health insurance.