Another Union to Picket Howard

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)A second union plans to picket Howard University this week. The DC Nurse’s Association has scheduled a picket next Tuesday over “management’s failure to negotiate and its refusal to consider and bargain over proposals relating to staffing,” reports DCNA’s Ed Smith. Meanwhile, NABET CWA 31 continues its weekly picketing at WHUT TV this Thursday and Friday over firings and the station’s failure to settle a contract ("'Howard 4' Make Noise At Opening Convocation," 10/1 UC). DCNA’s contract ended on June 30, 2011 and has been extended since then, but there have only been two negotiating sessions and “Management has flatly rejected DCNA’s proposals designed to ensure employee input into the staffing at the hospital,” says Smith, noting that staffing “has been a major concern among RNs, dietitians and social workers for several years.” In addition, Smith says Howard “management has been unprepared or unwilling to engage in bargaining since early July." - photo by Chris Garlock