Health Care Workers Turn to
Union 

By Leslie Miller 
Associated Press Writer 
Saturday, January 31, 1998; 5:48 a.m. EST 

BOSTON (AP) -- Just three years out of nursing school,
Kristen Stentisford thought she was lucky to get a job at
Beverly Hospital. 

But she quickly felt overwhelmed, taking care of seven or
eight very sick patients at a time. She remembers hospital
administrators telling her not to tell patients how many
nurses were on the floor. 

Last week, Stentisford voted to join the Massachusetts
Nurses Association because she believes hospital
understaffing puts patients in danger. 

``Benefits and pay are a factor, but they're fourth or fifth on
the list,'' said Stentisford, who voted on the winning side to
be represented by the MNA. ``They're burning people out
before they even have time to feel comfortable with their
skills.'' 

The vote was the fourth straight successful organizing drive
by the union in Massachusetts in 10 months. 

All over the country, labor organizers say the restructuring of
health care and the shift to managed care is driving worried
health care workers into the arms of collective bargaining.
Unionized health care workers are beginning to flex their
newfound muscle -- not just over traditional salary and
benefit issues, but over patient safety. 

``Patient care and understaffing are at the root of why nurses
are organizing,'' said Anna Gilmore-Hall, director of labor
relations at the American Nurses Association. 

``The workload is atrocious, patients are in the hospital for a
shorter period of time, they're very sick, and you've got
fewer nurses.'' 

The ANA, she said, is also hearing from pharmacists,
physicians and patient health and safety specialists
concerned about cutbacks. 

Bo Piela, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Association of
HMOs, acknowledged staffs are shrinking but blamed
technology and cost pressures. 

``The cost pressures are coming from employers, the
people who pay for health care, employers and
consumers,'' Piela said. ``These cost pressures have, over
the past five years or so, caused everyone to try to figure out
how we can provide good, high-quality health care more
efficiently.'' 

Back at the Beverly Hospital, spokesman Jack Good
insisted that the ratio of nurses to patients has remained
constant. He called the unionization vote a backlash against
the new health care environment. 

It is a backlash being felt all across the country. 

This week alone, several thousand registered nurses
picketed 54 Kaiser Permanente medical facilities in
Northern California. In Washington, the ANA won a union
vote by a 10-to-1 margin at the Greater Southeast
Community Hospital. 

There are other signs, too -- the 1,000-member United
Salaried Physicians and Dentists expects to more than
double in the next six months. Associate director Mark Levy
said the workload under managed care is forcing doctors to
consider organizing. 

``There's definitely a trend underway,'' said Tana Adde,
spokesperson for the National Labor Relations Board. In
1996, for the first time in at least a decade, more health care
workers voted to join unions than voted against. 

Five years ago, Chris Rondeau started to organize 2,300
phlebotomists, X-ray technicians, occupational therapists
and nurses at the University of Massachusetts Medical
Center in Worcester. 

``People said, `Worcester is an anti-union town, don't
bother,''' he said -- but workers voted to unionize with 63
percent of the vote -- the biggest union victory in Worcester
in 60 years. 

``There's a speedup going on and it's real scary,'' said
Rondeau. ``Hospital administrations are under a huge
amount of pressure to cut costs. A lot of decisions get made
about cutting costs from a distance. 

``Maybe they'd be made differently if they were made on the
shop floor.'' 

       (c) Copyright 1998 The Associated Press