Robin Hood Tax

On:
In: Activism, Bernie Sanders, Home, Legislative Policy, Minimum Wage, Nurses, Robin Hood Tax, Single Payer

By Katie Gjertson

MNA Political Coordinator

This June 9 – 11, several thousand progressive activists from across the country will gather in Chicago for the People’s Summit 2.0. It’s a multi-organizational, multi-racial, multi-issue conference, co-hosted by the National Nurses United. The event goals are to form a broad coalition committed to building a people’s movement united around social, racial, economic, and environmental justice.

MNA members are invited to attend, and those who haven’t been to an event like this before are the perfect candidate. These events feature high-powered speeches by progressive leaders that will leave participants fired up to get involved.
… Read more about: The People’s Summit 2.0  »

On:
In: Minnesota Nurses Association, Politics, Robin Hood Tax

Washington DC’s Farragut Square turned into Sherwood Forest this weekend as 2,000 Robin Hoods rallied for a Wall Street Tax to pay for healthcare, medical research, and education.

Fifteen MNA members joined union nurses from Massachusetts, DC, and across the country to demand President Obama and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew to implement the “Robin Hood Tax,” a transaction fee on stock trading that could generate $260 billion for the needs of the middle class.

“We have seen the devastation of our patients at the bedside,” said Bernadine (Bunny) Engeldorf, RN, Vice-President of MNA, “we discharge our patients to the streets because some people are picking between healthcare and paying the mortgage.”

“As nurses we can be advocates for patients because we see first-hand how the economy has affected our patients,” said Katie Skipton, RN, from Bemidji.
… Read more about: Minnesota nurses join thousands in DC to rally for Robin Hood Tax  »

On:
In: Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Robin Hood Tax, Unsafe Staffing

NOTES ON NURSING

Nurse Crisis in New York   Despite an increase in candidates, the State Nursing Association said hospitals aren’t hiring. In the end, it is hurting patients. State Assemblyman Richard Gottfried is the sponsor of the State Staffing Bill.

What Nurse Jackie Means for America   The reality of health care lurks outside our studio in Queens, New York, and informs some of what the writers create. The relentless money crunches. Corporate overlords coldly pulling strings on delicate medical and staffing decisions. Overcrowded waiting rooms and illogical triage. Communication vacuums between doctor and patient. The constant vulnerability of patients to not only disease, but to the system.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, April 17, 2013: Nurse crisis in NY; Hospitals profit from errors  »

On:
In: Legislative Policy, National Nurses United, Robin Hood Tax

Media Advisory:
Congressman Keith Ellison

MEDIA ADVISORY: Rep. Keith Ellison to Unveil Inclusive Prosperity Act Outside Capitol

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 16, 2013
Press Contacts
Jeremy Slevin– (202) 225-4755

WASHINGTON –Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Chief Deputy Whip, will announce the reintroduction of his Inclusive Prosperity Act tomorrow, which adds a tax of a fraction of a percent on transactions done by Wall Street firms and stock traders. In 2011, 40 countries had a similar tax, as did the U.S. until 1966. This tax would reduce harmful financial market speculation, discourage high-volume, high-speed trading, and slow down the proliferation of ever more complex derivatives.
… Read more about: MEDIA ADVISORY: Rep. Keith Ellison, NNU’s Jean Ross to Unveil Inclusive Prosperity Act  »

On:
In: Activism, Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Nurses, Nursing, Robin Hood Tax

HEALTH CARE

Fix for the Modern Hospital:  A Design for Healing   Rarely is nurse Cindy Steckel possessed by fantasies of unspeakable revenge. Toilet design, however, does provoke her fury.  Whoever is responsible for the slim-doored, cramped configuration of patient bathrooms in most American hospitals draws her scorn. “I don’t know if there wasn’t such a thing as a walker back then,” she says. “But if I could get my hands on the guy who designed these…!”

Study:  Medicaid Expansion Would Extend Coverage to 21M Americans at Modest Cost to States    Since the federal government will pick up most of the tab for the Medicaid expansion, the states that choose to participate will be able to extend insurance to millions of poor and vulnerable Americans without using much of their own funds.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, November 27, 2012: A pension deficit disorder; Design for healing  »

On:
In: Activism, Bargaining, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing, Robin Hood Tax

LABOR NOTES

Tax Fairness Rally   WHEN: Monday, November 12th at 11:00am – Noon
WHERE: S 8th Street and Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis.

Twilight for Twinkies?  Striking workers formed a picket line at the company’s Sacramento, Calif., plant Sunday, two days after the walkout began when the company imposed a contract that would cut wages by 8 percent.

NOTES ON NURSING

Nurses in Short Supply for Veterans   Samiley’s specialty at the VA’s primary care clinic is homeless veterans. Most of his patients served in the Vietnam War and come with diabetes or hypertension as well as mental health needs.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, November 12, 2012: Nurses in short supply for Vets; Twilight for Twinkies?  »

On:
In: Activism, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, National Nurses United, Nurses, Nursing, Politics, Robin Hood Tax

LABOR

Union workers help with Hurricane Sandy cleanup: Along one the hardest-hit stretches of New York waterfront, union workers fixed Internet connections, disconnected gas pipes to prevent explosions and patrolled the streets in cop cars and ambulances.

Nurses and building operators at two Sonoma County, California hospitals have walked off the job in a three-day strike to protest wages and other issues.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, November 5, 2012 – Union Workers Clean Up Post-Sandy, CA RNs on Strike  »

On:
In: Activism, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, National Nurses United, Nurses, Nursing, Politics, Robin Hood Tax

LABOR

The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra has canceled concerts through the end of the year. Management locked out musicians Oct. 21, and the union on Wednesday unanimously rejected the current contract proposal.

From In These Times: Mitt Romney’s 9-Point Plan to Kill Unions.

In California: Hundreds of registered nurses walked off the job Thursday morning at seven East Bay hospitals affiliated with Sutter Health in a longstanding dispute over wages, benefits and service cutbacks.

HEALTH CARE

Representatives from the Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United held a press conference at the State House Thursday to brief reporters on a new law to ban the dangerous practice of mandatory overtime as an alternative to providing safe registered nurse staffing levels in the state’s acute care hospitals.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, November 2, 2012 – CA Nurses on Strike; SPCO Lockout Continues  »

On:
In: Activism, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, National Nurses United, Nurses, Nursing, Politics, Robin Hood Tax

LABOR

Labor and community groups are gearing up to defeat a measure on the California ballot in November aimed at undermining the ability of unions to financially support election campaigns.

State and national labor unions are cranking up the fundraising in an attempt to kill a proposed change to the Illinois Constitution.

In California, up to 3,200 registered nurses will go on strike beginning at 7 a.m. Thursday. at three Alta Bates Summit Medical Center facilities in Oakland and Berkeley, Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, San Leandro Hospital, Sutter Delta in Antioch, and Sutter Solano in Vallejo.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, October 31, 2012 – 3,200 California RNs Prepare to Strike  »