Registered nurses with National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United at MedStar Washington Hospital Center voted overwhelmingly this past weekend to ratify a new five-year contract. The contract, covering 1,900 registered nurses at the hospital, features a host of improvements and protections for both nurses and patients. A major win in the contract is a provision to immediately add 30 resource nurses. These nurses will not have patient assignments, but will be able to assist their nurse colleagues in daily duties and can be called on to provide them meal and break relief in a timely manner. “This is a huge win for us and our patients,” said Stephanie Sims, RN, who has worked as a nurse at MedStar Washington Hospital Center for 14 years. “Resource nurses are often very experienced nurses who can assist nurses with any number of things. These could range from aiding in admissions to mentoring younger nurses who may be unfamiliar with how to start a certain medication or do an unfamiliar procedure.” NNU says other highlights of the contract will help retain and recruit high-quality nurses to MedStar Washington Hospital Center. These include: workplace violence protections, union rights, respect, and dignity, and economic gains to improve nurse recruitment and retention. Nominations for the Metro Washington Council’s Board and Officers for the 2019-2022 term were held at last night’s Council meeting. Nominees have until 5p Thursday to indicate whether they will accept the nomination; a complete list of candidates will be released after that. The election will be held at the March 18 meeting of the Metro Council.
Today's the absolutely, positively last chance to get your tickets for this year's Evening with Labor. As previously reported, the first drink* at Saturday’s 42nd annual Evening with Labor is on reception sponsor Koonz, McKenney. The annual gathering is set for this Saturday, March 2 at Martin’s Crosswinds in Greenbelt. A limited number of dinner tickets are still available until COB today; click here to reserve yours now. This year’s awardees include Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen (BLET) DC Chair Herb Harris (J.C. Turner Award for Outstanding Trade Unionist of the Year); SEIU local 722 (Thomas M. Bradley Community Services Award), AFSCME/NUHHCE 1199 (DC COPE Award and Golden Picket Sign), The Washington-Baltimore News Guild (Organizing Award), IATSE 22 (Organizing Award), National Nurses United (Golden Picket Sign) and the inaugural Joslyn N. Williams Vanguard Award. *wine, beer or soft drink |