From the St. Luke’s bargaining committee: In our fifth bargaining session with management of St. Luke’s hospital, we had a detailed discussion about the implementation of our nurse-to-patient ratios which research has proven to is better for patient outcomes. Management asked clarifying questions and listened to our explanations. Nothing has come back from management across the table regarding safe patient care. We expect to make major progress in our next meeting and we continue to take steps towards this, yet are prepared to show how serious we are in our commitment for safe patient care.
From Kate Donovan RN 7W: “Today was our fifth bargaining session. If the hospital stonewalls or does not actively progress toward what we need in our contract for safe patient care we need to take our next steps. Every RN at St. Luke’s needs to be ready to take the next steps if there is no progress. We are stronger together than alone. We need to stand together and support each other on this journey to get the contract we need. It is up to us as RN’s whether or not we will continue to fight shift to shift for the nurses we need or settle a contract that will give us the nurses our patients need.”