In an election held Sept. 24, registered nurses at Central Maine Medical Center (CMMC) in Lewiston, Maine, voted overwhelmingly to join Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (MSNA/NNOC).
The nurses voted 91% yes (204-21). Left out of the vote were those nurses who were suspended or terminated from their jobs for working to form the union. The retaliation only served to make the rest of the CMMC nursing staff even more determined to unionize, however.
A day earlier, nurses at Olympia Fields Hospital in Illinois joined as well. NNOC is an affiliate of National Nurses United (NNU), the largest and fastest-growing registered nurse (RN) union in the nation.
“We are beyond thrilled to win our union election. Prime Healthcare thought they could silence us,” said Aaron McDaniel, RN, an intensive care unit nurse at CMMC.
“But now we are members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee, and we will use our voices to speak up loudly for our patients. We’re so proud to join NNOC because we know we will win a contract that will make a drastic difference for our patients and for us as nurses to build a healthier community.”
CMMC nurses held an informational picket recently to protest their employer’s retaliation against nurses who were speaking up and fighting for their patients. Despite these tactics from Prime Healthcare, the hospital’s owner, nurses demonstrated their unity and solidarity in the union vote.
Nurses at the 250-bed facility say they voted to join the union because it is critical that “nurses have a say in making decisions that affect patient care, working conditions, staffing, and recruitment and retention of experienced nurses.”
With their election victory, nurses will continue to demand the reinstatement of their 20 illegally disciplined co-workers (15 fired and five suspended) and, moving forward, good faith bargaining on a first union contract.
The RNs at Olympia Fields Hospital voted 82% in favor of joining NNOC. “We are so proud to win our union election. We fought hard for this victory because we want to give our patients the best care,” said Darlene Estrada-Smith, a nurse in the outpatient surgery unit.
“Nurses wanted to join the National Nurses Organizing Committee because we know that organizing and forming a union is how we can best advocate for our patients. We look forward to building a strong contract that protects nurses and patients.”
Nurses at Olympia Fields held a strike last week to protest their employer’s retaliation against nurses who were speaking up and fighting for their patients. The facility is also owned by Prime Healthcare.
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