Registered nurses picketed the VA in downtown DC late last month, urging the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to work with them to ensure quality care at the VA by moving forward with stalled negotiations.
"The duty of registered nurses within the VA healthcare system is to provide high quality care and to advocate for the men and women who put their lives and health at risk defending our nation," said Irma Westmoreland, a Registered Nurse and Chair of National Nurses United in Virginia. "We are the front-line caregivers whose work ensures that patients get the care they need, and in many cases we are veterans and patients ourselves,” Westmoreland added. Speaking out on behalf of the 11,000 RNs affiliated with National Nurses United, nurses voiced concerns on patient care issues, including chronic short staffing and the recruitment and retention of experienced nurses. Over the past 20 months, RNs have submitted 1500 reports documenting understaffing and other patient care issues to VA management. Read more on our website at dclabor.org, where you can also find out about the latest local labor events and actions by clicking on Calendar. Here’s today's labor history: On this date in 1919, more than a thousand Boston police officers struck after 19 union leaders were fired for organizing activities. Massachusetts Governor – and future US President -- Calvin Coolidge announced that none of the strikers would be rehired, mobilized the state police, and recruited an entirely new police force from among unemployed World War 1 veterans. And in 1973, United Auto Workers President Leonard Woodcock was named in President Richard Nixon’s “Enemy’s List,” a White House compilation of Americans Nixon regarded as major political opponents. Another dozen union presidents were added later. Today’s labor quote is by Harry Truman “Republicans can hear the whispers of business, but not the yells and screams of working people.”
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