| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 20, 2001 |
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Nurses Ready to Negotiate Round-The-Clock in Effort to Reach Fair Contract With St. John's Medical Center Nurses at St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis remain committed to reaching a fair contract with the hospital that will build a partnership for quality patient care. "We want the St. Louis community to understand that St. John's RNs have faced an uphill battle for 22 months in an attempt to negotiate a fair contract with the administration," said Lisa Nesler, a St. John's registered nurse and member of UFCW Local 655's bargaining committee. "Our first priority is to ensure quality patient care," said Nesler. "Hospital nurses are doing their part, even as we face increasing patient responsibility. But while we give the care, hospital executives increase their salaries."
"It's time for the St. John's administration to come forward and do the right thing for our patients, our community, and the nurses," said Collen Schmitz, a hospital RN. "It's time, after 22 months, to bring these negotiations to a fair and successful conclusion." On August 29th, Nurses at St. John's overwhelmingly voted to authorize the bargaining committee to issue a 10-day "economic action" notice to the hospital, calling on the Sisters of Mercy Health System to take negotiations seriously and recognize the dedication and commitment of their registered nurses to reach an equitable contract. "We have four bargaining sessions remaining before any economic action measures by the nurses will take place," said Nesler. "The UFCW bargaining committee is ready to sit down and negotiate 24 hours a day between now and then. Twenty-two months is long enough. Our patients, as well as the St. Louis community, deserve that this contract gets settled now and gets settled fairly." The UFCW represents 1.4 million workers, including more than 100,000 health care workers. |
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