Because We Care: Remarks from Lt. Gov. Candidate John Gunyou at Patient Care Vigil
John Gunyou
Remarks at Vigil for Patient Safety
St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, St. Paul
June 9, 2010
Thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight. I want you to know that Margaret and I are very proud to stand with you for patient safety and well being.
My sister is an RN, and has been a pediatrics nurse for more than 35 years. I told her about tonight, and asked what she had learned about nursing over her long career. Here’s what she told me.
While there’s always a need for advanced medical treatment & technology, what patients most need is intelligent, high-quality, nursing care.
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Fox 9 TV News – Story on Unsafe Staffing
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xgiVozuElU]
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Minnesota Nurses Press Release on Unsafe Staffing
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: John Nemo, MNA, 651-414-2863 or john.nemo@mnnurses.org
Twin Cities hospital patients and nurses will be holding a press conference at 1:00 pm on Tuesday, June 8, to explain in detail just how dangerously understaffed area hospitals are and how patients and nurses are suffering as a result.
“The staffing issue is the reason 12,000 Twin Cities nurses have been forced to conduct a one-day strike for patient safety this Thursday,” said Cindy Olson, a Twin Cities RN and member of the MNA negotiating team. “And we don’t think the general public truly understands just how unsafe things are inside our hospitals, and that it’s getting worse.”
Twin Cities nurses file an average of 1,200 “unsafe staffing” forms each year detailing the types of incidents outlined below.
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June 4 Bargaining Update
Union brothers and sisters, please get ready to strike.
For two long days we, your elected bargaining teams, showed up to bargain a fair and just contract, and we are sorry to report that the employer has refused to bargain in good faith. They said that not one word, comma, letter, or sentence was acceptable in our proposals. They said unless you agree to their concessions there will be no bargaining.
These are employers who collectively made over $750 million in profits last year, where the CEOs pay increases were over 20%, and where new costly construction is prevalent everywhere.
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Summary of June 2 Bargaining TV Coverage
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/12271586]
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The National Perspective from a MNA RN
Twelve thousand nurses in the Twin Cities are fending off a well-coordinated attack by corporate health care interests to diminish the power of our union. In a metropolitan area with one of the highest densities of organized nurses in the country, we know that if the employers take down the Minnesota Nurses Association, they can take down anyone.
The nurses authorized a one-day strike last week by more than 90 percent of 9,200 voting. Negotiations with 14 Twin Cities hospitals owned by six corporations started in March, but little actual back and forth has taken place.
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Picket Sign Making (June 4-6): Sign up now!
With Twin Cities Hospitals refusing to significantly modify or update the contract proposal that was already rejected May 19th by more than 90% of Twin Cities nurses, it is appearing more and more likely the June 10th strike for patient safety will become a reality.
With that in mind, we need our fellow nurses, friends and family members to join us for strike picket sign making this weekend! We’ll be working in two shifts (8:00 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.-6:30 p.m.) on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, June 4-6.
We’ll be gathering here at the MNA Office (345 Randolph Avenue, Suite 200, St.
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June 2 Bargaining – Information Request filed by MNA
MNA Information Request June 2, 2010
MNA requests that the following information is provide for the purposes of bargaining, and that it is provided not later than 8:00 A.M. on June 4, 2010.
- Please provide a unit by unit comparison of current staffing ratios and those as last proposed by MNA.
- Please specifically identify the factors and data that were used by the hospitals to calculate the cost of the MNA proposal at 250 million dollars. Indicate the current costs that are included in the hospital’s calculations
- What is the average cost of the following adverse events?
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