Union Nurses

I'm excited to see people get involved in the union. So much passion from so many nurses and health care professionals with so many diverse backgrounds.

<3 standing up for safe staffing and decent benefits! Thank you OFNHP! Don't forget to vote! I'm voting for and endorsing these guys:

Linda Rohman, RN, OFNHP RN Contract Specialist, Mt. Scott Internal Medicine Advice Nurse for Executive President

Elex Tenney, MSW, Medical Social Worker, Primary Care Adult Medicine,
East Interstate for Executive Vice President

Samantha Owens, RN Cardiovascular Unit, KSMC for Executive Secretary

Meg McGowan-Tuttle, RN, Oncology Med/Surg at KSMC for Treasurer

Kathy Schmidt, RN, Critical Care Float, KSMC for Leadership Development

Guy Marx, RN Regional Call Center Advice Nurse for Vice President, External Organizing

Nancy Amstad-Hite (Devore), RN, Kaiser Home Health for Continuing Care Services
for VP of Publications

Mike Savage, Dental Lab Specialist, North Interstate for Health & Safety

Melissa Pond, RN, Chronic Conditions Case Manager for Legislative/COPE

Traci D'Andrea, RN, Chronic Conditions Case Management & Staff RN PACU, KSMC
for Retirees

Dawnette McCloud, RN Staff Nurse PACU KSMC
for President RN, Bargaining Unit

Nancy Mulsoff, RN, Advice Nurse, Regional Call Center
for Vice President RN, Bargaining Unit

Christy Grove, RPSGT, Sleep Lab
for President Tech, Bargaining Unit

Amanda Hill, ABOC Dispensing Optician - Beaverton
for Vice President Tech, Bargaining Unit

Sharon Peabody-Brown, RDH, Dental Hygienist, Grand Dental Office
for President, Dental Bargaining Unit

Allison Burgett, RDH, Dental Hygienist - Beaverton
for Vice President, Dental Bargaining Unit

Michelle Flores, Medical Laboratory Scientist, KSMC
for President, Lab Pro Bargaining Unit

Let's give Andy McCulloch pause. Whatever the election results, we are united for each other, for our sister unions, and most importantly, for our patients. We will keep Kaiser afloat, we will continue to be the best providers of care, and we will not accept anything less than an excellent contract that members appreciate.

and now a shout out to my nurses: OFNHP nurses! time to vote for your union's E-Board!

Sent this as a pm on social networking sites (yeah, I used that phrase). What kinda blogger/unionist would I be if I didn't share it here? Share wide and far!

Hey, by now you should have received your ballot for our Executive Board. If you're like me, you've gotten a few items in the mail as well, advertising two different groups of candidates. For past votes, I've voted upon name recognition (not an ideal way to vote!), I've voted for people I know personally who have earned my respect, and I've voted for people that people I respect recommend. I hope that you vote. I really believe in the power of the people in general, and I really believe that voting is essential to a good government both of our nation and our union.

So please vote.

Specifically, I would like you to vote for the collective with Linda Rohman running for Executive President. Kathy Schmidt, our executive president before Kathy Gereaux, screened all these folks, and they all have agreed that an emphasis on transparency, improved communication, and democracy is necessary. They are focused on an inclusive, MEMBER-DRIVEN union standing for the values and goals of all our members.

They have a website here: http://www.membersfirst5017.org/
Please look it over, read the brief bios, and see if you agree with me that these are truly the best candidates.

I wholeheartedly endorse Meg Tuttle, Samantha Owens, Kathy Schmidt, and Dawnette McCloud. I've met them and respect them as people who will stand for us and help us stand united and strong during this difficult bargaining period.

"If you do not receive a ballot, or lose or destroy your ballot, you may request a duplicate by contacting the Election Committee, care of Jessica Humphrey, at 503-657-9974 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              503-657-9974      end_of_the_skype_highlighting."

Thank you guys very much. This is REALLY important.

See you maybe on Wednesday at the OFNHP member meeting! I'll be there, perhaps with out of town visitors in tow! http://ofnhp.org/

1913 Massacre

"With the growing popularity and demand for cheap electricity in the late 19th century, the dynamo became a major industrial machine and required large quantities of copper; thus copper mining became commercially rewarding for mine owners. At that time, Michigan was a major producing state for "pure" copper, and the rank and file laborers were confronted with joining the ever-growing union movements. Most of the copper miners joined the Western Federation of Miners that was, for a short time, affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World. Believing that the IWW was too political, the WFM withdrew to maintain its own membership. They struck the Michigan mines in 1913, seeking safer working conditions.

On Christmas Eve, 1913, in Calumet Michigan held a Christmas party at the "Italian Hall." Company strike breakers barred the doors and yelled "fire." In the ensuing panic 73 children were smothered or trampled to death; some reports place the number as high as 89. This tragic example of anti-union violence has been ignored in most histories of the United States, but Woody has immortalized it in this ballad. "

---Liner notes on 1913 Massacre, from album #3 published under The Asch Recordings, Vol.1-4

Like Nike?

You'll love their sweatshops.



Please think about your purchases. Like whether or not you need to make the purchase at all...


On a happier note, I'm reading The Hungry Years about the First Great Depression. Wait, that's not a happier note. I learned about the founding of the Big 3, or at least something interesting about Ford. He shut down the factories for MONTHS in between the Model T and the Model A. When asked about it, he said being out of work was GOOD for the workers, showed 'em that times wouldn't always be good. With roots like these, it's hard for me to be anything besides skeptical when it comes to corporations. A few analysts have been repeating that it's the autoworker union's fault that cars are so expensive, that the Big 3 are going down. Labor only contributes 10% of the cost of the new car. 90% of the cost comes from parts (very necessary), research and development (ah, that explains why we have so many hybrids?), advertising (do we really need so much advertising), marketing (how hard is it to come up with an overpriced car commercial?) and management.

I posted about this before, here, after watching a Democracy Now episode.

It's the Union Worker's fault?

As reported on Democracy Now, about 10% of the cost of a new car goes to the workers who make the car. Those are the unions. 10% to the union workers. Maybe 10% is a big deal. Let's say a new car costs $17,000. That means it would be $1,700 cheaper ($15,300) if you could make it for free. Seventeen hundred bucks: that's enough for a wedding dress, or a family vacation. But seventeen hundred bucks for all the work that it takes to put that car together, to bend the steel and lay on some smooth shiny paint, a lot of work. Ten percent of the cost of the car goes to the union workers who build those vehicles for you. Twenty percent goes to the supervisory costs. Twenty percent so that non-union observers can point and click and demand and shuffle. Your car is $3,400 more expensive now. Your car could have been $13,600 if there were no managerial costs. There are fewer managers than workers too, so they're making more than double what the "expensive" union workers are making. So who's fault is it, really, in those simple terms?

read it here