New Orleans University Medical Center must negotiate contract after nurses vote to unionize
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Registered nurses at University Medical Center said they look forward to negotiating a contract with the hospital after voting to unionize over the weekend.
Lucy Mendez, an R.N. at the hospital, said the vote to unionize passed 442-100.
“It was important to unionize at UMC, because nurses need a seat at the table in order to make decisions,” Mendez said. “There’s a lot of decisions being made for us and we’re the ones at the bedside. So, we really need to be there and saying what we think would be best and have a good input.”
UMC nurses voted in favor of joining National Nurses United, the largest union of RNs in the United States.
According to the union, the nurses at UMC will now take steps to elect a bargaining team and prepare to negotiate their first contract.
“So, we’ll be working on contracts, hearing from our nurses. From all of our nurses, the ones that voted yes and the ones that voted no,” said Mendez, who has been an R.N. at UMC for five years.
“We want to retain, and we want to get more nurses coming to University Medical Center,” Mendez said. “And we want to retain experience to be able to train those nurses, so that we’re able to provide the best care that we can for our community”.
She says many nurses have left Louisiana for other states.
“There have been a lot of people leaving, taking traveling jobs,” Mendez said. “A lot of nurses that could be working here for Louisiana and staying here, that have been leaving to other states.”
She said UMC currently hires new nursing school graduates at a rate of $30 an hour, but that salary increases would help retention for all levels of experienced nurses.
“Across the board (pay raises) would be great,” she said. “But, again, the one thing that we’re concentrating on more than salaries is keeping our experience and making sure that we have supplies to take care of our patients.”
The hospital said in a statement to Fox 8, “Our nurses voted, and a majority of those who participated voted to unionize. University Medical Center New Orleans leadership thanks everyone for participating, and we will continue to to work with the National Labor Relations Board and operate consistently with the processes established by the National Labor Relations Act.
“As a hospital, our focus remains the same – to provide exceptional patient care that honors the spirit of charity.”
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