President s Message IN THIS ISSUE. United Nurses Associations of California Union of Health Care Professionals. May June Ken Deitz, RN President

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1 May June 2014 IN THIS ISSUE unacuhcp.org Ken Deitz, RN President Denise Duncan, RN Executive Vice President Jettie Deden-Castillo, NP Treasurer Charmaine Morales, RN Secretary Taking the Lead Against Workplace Bullying Everyday Leader Familiar Faces in New Places UNAC/UHCP Convention Add Three More to the Win Column for UNAC/UHCP UNAC/UHCP Officers Appointed to NUHHCE Executive Board Speaking Out for Worker Rights in Washington, DC Union In Brief President s Message Right to Work. Sounds great, right? As union members, we fight for rights. And that s why we must beware of Right to Work (RTW). It s a political slogan, designed to make a fundamental attack on the unions sound righteous and commonsense. RTW laws strip our right to collectively bargain what we have in most of our contracts: union security language, which creates what s called a union shop, where everyone is automatically part of the union and pays their fair share in dues to cover bargaining and contract enforcement costs. In practice, because a union by law must represent everyone, RTW means that some workers can get their union representation for free something for nothing. Does that sound just or fair? Politically, the purpose is to drain union resources so we can t effectively represent anyone. If unions can t provide effective representation, who would join? It s a vicious circle meant to plunge us into a death spiral. The labor movement calls them Right to Work for Less laws, a more accurate name. Comparable wages average $1,500 per year less in RTW states, and union density is low. High union density raises all wages the rising tide that lifts all boats. RTW seeks to punch holes in those boats and sink them. Why am I bringing this up now, in California, where labor is strong and UNAC/UHCP is riding a growth streak? Because 24 out of 50 states have passed RTW laws. Michigan, a state built by unions, passed RTW in Deep-pocketed anti-union forces are working hard to spread RTW. After blue state Wisconsin lost collective bargaining rights, union membership nosedived 60%. If RTW infects California, collective bargaining, staffing ratios, pensions, good wages and health care could all be taken away. For the anti-union forces, California would be a great prize. How do we boost our immunity? Organize! Ohio unions built a successful campaign to repeal a set of anti-union laws their governor had signed. Kentucky, New Hampshire and Oregon held off RTW attempts. In all cases, union organizing was the key. We must grow our membership and our political power, build union density and spread workers rights to resist the RTW pandemic. There is no other cure. In unity, United Nurses Associations of California Union of Health Care Professionals

United Nurses Associations of California Taking the Lead Against Workplace Bullying Who is the most likely target for bullying in the workplace?

Less surprising for UNAC/UHCP members: health care is one of two settings, along with education, where bullying is most prevalent.

These are all reasons that UNAC/ UHCP has stepped up to lead on this issue.

2 United Nurses Associations of California Taking the Lead Against Workplace Bullying Who is the most likely target for bullying in the workplace? Unlike the weaker, outcast kids who get picked on by schoolyard bullies, it s often the most competent and well-liked workers who get singled out by workplace bullies. Less surprising for UNAC/UHCP members: health care is one of two settings, along with education, where bullying is most prevalent. Most of us have probably seen or experienced it, whether from management, member-to-member or patient families. It can be devastating to the health and careers of targets. These are all reasons that UNAC/ UHCP has stepped up to lead on this issue. A team of UNAC/UHCP state officers, staff, affiliate officers, stewards and contract specialists received three days of training in February. In the coming months the group will continue to meet, with the goal of becoming an anti-bullying resource team for the union. The training came from Dr. Gary Namie, whose wife Dr. Ruth Namie was targeted in 1996 while she was employed as a Kaiser social worker in Northern California. The couple founded the Workplace Bullying Institute to fill a resource and research vacuum in the United States and to spearhead legislation against workplace bullying. Every other Western industrialized democracy besides the US has passed such laws. As Union activists, we re specially qualified to tackle workplace bullies. Often, targets become isolated. Fearful co-workers distance themselves or even join in. But we know the power of solidarity. We re used to acting collectively against unjust conditions to protect ourselves and our patients. Already members of the team have been able to put the training to work. When nurses at one affiliate learned a nurse they were training in their unit had more seniority, they tried to bully her into failure. Their Staff Rep intervened. He appealed to their solidarity and fairness to turn it around. Another team member helped SPNN nurses demoralized by a bully supervisor when he explained that their strength and competency had made them a target. A hostile work environment grievance got the supervisor reassigned. Workplace bullying is a widespread and difficult issue, and it won t be conquered overnight, but UNAC/UHCP is committed to taking it on. We ve also joined with other unions to fight workplace violence against health care workers. A UNAC/ UHCP team traveled to Sacramento recently to testify to Cal/OSHA in support of an initiative called the California Safe Standard. To learn more: workplacebullying. org and safecarestandard.org. Union of Health Care Professionals

3 Brenda Gomez, RN ST. FRANCIS MEDICAL CENTER Unit: RN: UNAC/UHCP Member: Hometown: Med-Surg/Tele/Stroke 8 Years 2 Years Whittier I ve always been pro-union. I lived through the downsides of working non-union before I came to St. Francis. We took pay cuts, never got raises, worked out of ratio. It was horrible. That s why I m helping organize the RNs at PIH Health Downey, where I also work sometimes. I can definitely tell them the benefits of working union. I came to St. Francis because friends here told me about the union contract and better wages. I can see the huge role the union has played in ratio enforcement and patient safety. When they try to make us do something that s not safe for the patient, the union is always there to back us up. I was going to study pre-med originally. But I decided that nursing was better for me. Now I love it, and I m glad I didn t become a doctor. Nursing has more of what I envisioned myself doing, like communicating with the families. When your patients come in at death s door and then walk out healthy, that s the single best thing, seeing them smile, say Thank you, and appreciate what you ve done. I feel like, why wouldn t you want to get involved in your union? It s having a say in your work. I wanted to get to know my way around the hospital first, because I m kind of new here. But I read my little contract book a lot, and when I felt comfortable I reached out to a friend in the union and he encouraged me. I went to steward training. I know the contract better than the managers. So many nurses work here and they don t really know that much about the union and the contract. Now that people know I m more involved I can be a resource for them. I get to speak on behalf of my unit. I was elected an alternate on the Bargaining Team. We re facing the sale of the hospital, but we got an extension of the contract and we re meeting to plan for negotiations. I m not worried about the sale. I went through the sale of Downey, and if that little hospital could sustain itself, I have no doubt that St. Francis can too. We re the only trauma center in the area. We re a certified STEMI center and a stroke center. Our census is strong. I m sure we ll be able to maintain the hospital through this. Finally, your social media questions answered! UNAC/ UHCP has created a series of online trainings for the biggest social networks that need a little explanation: Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Join us!

Familiar Faces in New Places Longtime UNAC/UHCP employees Vanessa Caballero, Armin Reyes and Olivia Quijano are on the move.

Vanessa Caballero is eager to tackle the new challenges that will come from staff representation.

It was a great experience starting an affiliate from the ground up, she says. The transition from having no union to having a union is very exciting.

The Vanessa Caballero members of United Therapists of Southern California (UTSC) are in good hands.

4 Familiar Faces in New Places Longtime UNAC/UHCP employees Vanessa Caballero, Armin Reyes and Olivia Quijano are on the move. Superstar organizers Caballero and Quijano are moving into representation and legislation. Reyes takes his representation talents to Lakewood and Garden Grove. Vanessa Caballero is eager to tackle the new challenges that will come from staff representation. She played an integral role in organizing the Physical and Occupational Therapists and served on the bargaining team to win them a strong inaugural contract. It was a great experience starting an affiliate from the ground up, she says. The transition from having no union to having a union is very exciting. Her experiences in building this new affiliate inspired her to continue with them as a staff representative. I like seeing the immediate results that come with representation, she says. The Vanessa Caballero members of United Therapists of Southern California (UTSC) are in good hands. For the past year, Armin Reyes represented members at Kaiser Fontana, and recently worked with members at Kaiser Ontario Vineyard as well. He says representing the members at Fontana and Ontario Vineyard has been a great experience for him. Reyes looks forward to reestablishing ties with the affiliate Armin Reyes officers and members of Lakewood Registered Nurses Association (LRNA), where he previously serviced, and building relationships with the Garden Grove Registered Nurses Association (GGRNA). He is already thinking about LRNA s next negotiations and believes that he will be able to help win the members another outstanding contract by utilizing his relationships with local leaders and politicians. UNAC/ Olivia Quijano UHCP is pleased to have Reyes back after the completion of his recent eighteen-month tour of duty in Afghanistan. I m thrilled to be moving from helping health care professionals find a voice in the workplace, to helping health care professionals find a voice in legislation that impacts how they do their jobs, says Olivia Quijano, a staff organizer who is moving to UNAC/UHCP s legislation and politics team. Quijano, a graduate of UCLA and the Pennsylvania State University School of Labor and Employment Relations, came to UNAC/UHCP in She s worked with registered nurses at Chino, St. Francis, UHS Inland Valley and Rancho Springs, as well as testifying as a key witness in a NLRB trial.

5 UNAC/UHCP CONVENTION NOMINATIONS FOR STATE OFFICES The 2014 UNAC/UHCP Convention is October 5-8, 2014 at the LA Live JW Marriott in downtown Los Angeles. During the convention, an election will be held for President, Secretary and four Board of Director seats. Nominations for President and Secretary will open Thursday, August 7 and remain open until the close of the business session on Monday, October 6. Currently, Ken Deitz, RN, serves as the UNAC/ UHCP President, and Charmaine Morales, RN, is the UNAC/UHCP Secretary. Both the President and Secretary serve four-year terms, and will automatically serve as a delegate to the NUHHCE and AFSCME conventions. Nominations for four Board of Director seats are now open. Directors serve for four-year terms. The four seats up for election at the Convention are currently held by Helen Bouman, RN, Scott Byington, RN, Mary Cavanaugh, OD, and John Tim Uliasz, RN. The State Constitution, Section 606, specifies the eligibility requirements for election to a State office. The member must: (1) be a member in good standing for at least two years immediately preceding the election; (2) have practiced the profession of nursing for at least three years, or be a professional employee as defined in Section 301 and delivered health care for at least three years; (3) have been a member of an Affiliate for at least two years; and (4) not be a member in a bargaining unit represented exclusively by another labor organization, except the United Nurses Staff Union. Nominations may be submitted online at unacuhcp.org starting August 7. Those who need to submit offline can or call Executive Vice President Denise Duncan, RN at Denise.Duncan@unacuhcp.org or for more information on mail-based nominations. PROPOSE A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT Constitutional amendments must be submitted in writing to Secretary Charmaine Morales, RN by June 29, Section 1403 of the State Constitution states the amendments must be received by the UNAC/UHCP Secretary at least 90 days prior to the convening of the Convention. The amendments will then be sent by the UNAC/ UHCP Secretary to the affiliates at least 60 days before the Convention convenes. Per Article XIV, Sections , proposed amendments to the UNAC/UHCP Constitution may be submitted to the State Convention by request of the Executive Council, Board of Directors or an affiliate. If an amendment is proposed by an affiliate, the amendment must include the signatures of at least two elected officers of the affiliate, certifying the amendment was approved for submission to the Convention by the policy-making body or membership of the affiliate. Proposed amendments may also be submitted to the State Convention by a signed petition of 25% of the members of any affiliate in good standing.

6 Add Three More to the Win Column for UNAC/UHCP As always, UNAC/UHCP has been diligently safeguarding our rights. Our legal team at UNAC/UHCP racked up two strong recent settlements. Meanwhile, three SCNSC members saw a big payday in March. 1 We Won t Be Excluded (Kaiser Downey) Kaiser Downey management broke the law when they created a safe patient handling committee and chose union members for it without consulting the union; and then failed to provide us a list of the committee members within a reasonable time after the union requested it. So we filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board. The Board was prepared to issue a complaint against Kaiser, but instead Kaiser agreed to a settlement. This is a huge victory for the Union, particularly the KDRNA members. Kaiser agreed to notify all of Kaiser Downey by posting a notice in public places, ing it to KDRNA members and posting it on their intranet that they will not: Establish joint committees without involving the Union; Select the RN representatives to such committees; and Delay in producing requested information. These notices inform Kaiser local facility management that the Federal government will intervene if they try to exclude us from joint decisions, committee creation, and committee member selection. 2 Our Right to Information (Kaiser Regional) When union members file grievances, we re entitled by law to relevant information we need to fully represent our members. When Kaiser s local management and legal counsel recently delayed or failed to provide information relevant to several grievances, including HealthConnect records, they found themselves in trouble with the National Labor Relations Board. Again, after the Board informed Kaiser that it would issue a complaint, Kaiser agreed to a settlement that included posting a notice publicly and electronically that going forward they will provide such information to the Union in a timely manner. 3 Our Right To Be Paid for Our Work (SCNSC) Thousands of dollars in back pay has been awarded to three members of the SCNSC (Southern California Specialty Care Nurses) affiliate to settle a grievance for unpaid standby pay. Three newborn screening coordinators were on-call during weekends to answer questions and help resolve issues for a year without being paid for it as called for in the SCNSC contract. One of SCNSC s Vice Presidents, Liza Ventura, did the major work on the grievance which led to the settlement. Settlements ranged from $6,300 to over $7,400. PAID IN FULL

UNAC/UHCP Officers Appointed to NUHHCE Executive Board Our UNAC/UHCP officers have influence not just within our union, but on health care unions nationwide.

Executive Vice President Denise Duncan, RN is the Vice President of Nursing for NUHHCE, and Secretary Charmaine Morales, RN, and Treasurer Jettie Deden-Castillo, NP, have both been appointed Vice

7 UNAC/UHCP Officers Appointed to NUHHCE Executive Board Our UNAC/UHCP officers have influence not just within our union, but on health care unions nationwide. All four UNAC/UHCP officers sit on the Executive Board of our parent union, the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees (NUHHCE). Executive Vice President Denise Duncan, RN is the Vice President of Nursing for NUHHCE, and Secretary Charmaine Morales, RN, and Treasurer Jettie Deden-Castillo, NP, have both been appointed Vice Presidents as well. Our UNAC/UHCP President Ken Deitz, RN, is the Secretary-Treasurer of NUHHCE. By being part of the governing body of NUHHCE, UNAC/UHCP officers keep our union at the forefront of health care policy and practice nationwide. UNAC/UHCP Executive Vice President Denise Duncan, RN, as the NUHHCE VP of Nursing, will be surveying nurses throughout the US who are part of NUHHCE, to find out how they practice and how they are innovating. With this information, NUHHCE can push for improvements to benefit all US patients and the nurses who care for them. SPEAKING OUT FOR WORKER RIGHTS IN WASHINGTON, DC UNAC/UHCP Staff Organizer Kuusela Hilo, and Brenda Crawford, an RN who works at the Universal Health Services, Inc. (UHS) facility Rancho Springs Medical Center, testified at the National Labor Relations Board on April 10-11, The public hearing on the proposed reforms to the process of voting for union representation took place in Washington, DC. Hilo testified about delay tactics UHS used when Corona RNs petitioned for an election to be represented by UNAC/UHCP in November 2012, and how the proposed reforms to the election rules if they had been in place then likely would have prevented UHS from being able to use those tactics to delay the election. On April 10, Crawford provided the employee perspective on how the proposed rules would likely have enabled the charge nurses to vote in a union election, even though they were excluded in last summer s election, and was a witness on April 11 regarding modernizing the information employers must share with unions after the employees have filed an election petition to make the process more fair by allowing both sides access to employees so they can make an informed decision. She explained in last summer s organizing campaign at UHS Inland Valley and Rancho Springs, UNAC/ UHCP was given home addresses and was limited to off-site, afterhours voluntary meetings, while the employer communicated its antiunion message on paid time at work, electronically, and on RNs personal cell phones. Brenda Crawford, RN, far left & Kuusela Hilo in the right side picture, again far left, testify at NLRB NLRB/Damon Hunter

8 United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals 955 Overland Court, Ste 150 San Dimas, CA Camino de la Siesta, Suite 306 San Diego, CA NONPROFIT U.S. POSTAGE PAID LOS ANGELES, CA PERMIT #2342 facebook.com/unacuhcp twitter.com/unacuhcp linkedin.com/company/unacuhcp Union in Brief UNAC/UHCP WINS MVP AWARD UNAC/UHCP member leaders attended our international union AFSCME s California PEOPLE Conference last month, where UNAC/UHCP received the PEOPLE MVP Award. Public Employees Organized to Promote Legislative Equality (PEOPLE) is AFSCME s political action committee, so UNAC/ UHCP s representatives participated in trainings and political strategy sessions, then met with legislators at the State Capitol to discuss upcoming bills. Senator Ricardo Lara s SB 1094 would protect communities when a nonprofit hospital is being sold like St. Francis Medical Center by maintaining access to crucial hospital services. UNAC/UHCP members discussed the bill with Dr. Richard Pan, Chair of the Assembly Health Committee, Assemblyman Mike Gatto, Chair of the Assembly Appropriations Committee, Assemblyman Anthony Rendon, and Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez UNAC/UHCP s former Legislative and Political Director among others. KAISER THERAPISTS PICK A NEW NAME Our most recent UNAC/UHCP affiliate has adopted a constitution drafted by a member committee, and along with it a name: United Therapists of Southern California (UTSC). In March, they elected their inaugural group of eight Affiliate Officers, including one Vice President for each of three separate areas: Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Home Health. Vanessa Caballero, lead organizer on their campaign to join UNAC/UHCP, became their first Staff Representative. And to round out their good news, the wage increases they negotiated in their first contract hit their paychecks in April. ANNUAL AFFILIATE OFFICERS CONFERENCE IN PASADENA Affiliate Officers had their annual gathering in March. They heard from all of the State Officers and several department directors about the state of UNAC/UHCP, the labor movement and health care; as well as current contract negotiations and organizing campaigns. Guest speakers included Jane McAlevey, author of Raising Expectations (and Raising Hell), who shared hard-won lessons from tough RN-organizing campaigns; and Marsha Mather-Thrift, Executive Director of a Bay Area park devoted to Rosie the Riveter and the women who entered the manufacturing workforce during World War II. Officers broke into smaller working groups to develop and then share ideas and strategies for building worksite and union effectiveness and power.

HCPJuly - August 2010 Kathy J. Sackman, RN President

HCPJuly - August 2010 Kathy J. Sackman, RN President IN THIS ISSUE Negotiations Update Crossing Borders Union in Brief Want to Propose a Constitutional Amendment? Legislative Update Everyday Leader 2010