Danbury Nurses Union

Caregivers Win National Standard to Reduce Workplace Violence

The U.S. labor department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) earlier this month took a major step toward protecting the nation's healthcare and social assistance workforces. The agency's assistant secretary accepted a petition urging the development of a federal standard for reducing workplace violence submitted last summer by a coalition that includes our national union.
 

Fighting Forward for Patients, Celebrating Our "Everyday Hero"

Delegates from across the nation last month at our national union's biennial convention took action on several key resolutions designed to help improve the quality of patient care in America. The event also featured a highlight with special meaning for the nearly 100 members attending from Connecticut; the presentation of AFT's "Everyday Heroes" award to one of our very own.
 

Our Union Members are "Everyday Heroes"

AFT is made up of amazing teachers, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel, higher education faculty and staff, nurses and healthcare professionals, state employees, early childhood educators and retirees. Our national union every two years recognizes some of these "Everyday Heroes" and three members of local unions in AFT Connecticut have been selected as semifinalists for their 2016 awards.
 
Click here to cast your vote for Connecticut's nominees.
 

Where the Front Line Meets the Bottom Line

Hundreds of nurses and health professionals last week gathered in Washington, D.C. to raise their voices on the issues affecting frontline caregivers and their patients. They came to the nation's capitol for AFT's annual Professional Issues Conference (PIC) and Labor Academy for hospital and healthcare workers. More than 30 members of AFT Connecticut-affiliated unions were among the attendees for this year's event, organized under the theme "Where the Front Line Meets the Bottom Line."
 

"More Must be Done" to Prevent Workplace Violence

A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reveals that violence is a daily and growing threat for America's 15 million healthcare workers. Union members from Connecticut last week joined other caregivers and elected leaders for the formal release of the congressional watchdog's comprehensive study. Among its findings are escalating rates and severity of workplace violence in hospitals and healthcare facilities across the nation.
 
Click here for press coverage of the report's release.

 

Danbury Hospital Leadership Indicted on Charges of "Restraining, Coercing" Caregivers

Danbury - Service, maintenance, environmental workers and nursing assistants at Danbury and New Milford Hospitals are reacting to a complaint issued in response to charges their employer violated federal labor laws. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Thursday scheduled hearings over illegal practices conducted by Western Connecticut Health Network (WCHN) managers and consultants against the group of approximately 800 employees. The board's complaint cites violations that were part of a coordinated campaign by the non-profit's top executives to subvert their healthcare workers' legal rights to form a union.
 

Overwhelming Majority of Healthcare Workers Urge Negotiations

Danbury - Healthcare professionals on Friday called on the president of Danbury and New Milford Hospitals to commence negotiations over decisions impacting care for their patients and working conditions for themselves. A group representing approximately 800 service, environmental, maintenance and other patient care providers at both facilities at a 'town hall'-style meeting presented their 'mission statement' to President Daniel DeBarba.
 

Healthcare Workers Coming Together to "Build a Better Hospital"

Danbury - Healthcare professionals at Danbury and New Milford Hospitals are publicly calling on the network operating both facilities to partner with them in improving conditions for their patients and themselves. An organizing committee representing approximately 800 healthcare workers is today releasing a statement announcing their collective free choice to form a union and "come together to help build a better hospital."
 

Nurses Weigh In on the 40-Hour Workweek Debate

Registered nurses (RNs) Irene Jagde and Janice Stauffer, members of the Danbury Nurses Union, Unit 47, last week traveled to Washington, D.C., to speak out against a proposal to redefine who qualifies as a full-time worker under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) held a hearing on the matter titled "Examining Job-Based Health Insurance and Defining Full-Time Work."
 
Click here to watch the full HELP Committee hearing.
 
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