Since you have been with us through the long struggle for union recognition at Saint John’s, we thought you would appreciate an update on the progress we’ve made and the challenges we’ve faced recently.

In late July, we notified management that we would be ready to begin negotiations in August. Management responded with a single date in September. That kind of set the tone for management’s approach to scheduling dates.

But we did meet for the first time on September 8. The RNs on the bargaining team gave impassioned opening statements about their 10-year effort to win a voice since losing their first union election in 2001. It was clear that patient safety and is these nurses’ first concern. There were even tears in the eyes of some of the 30 or so Saint John’s RNs who showed up to observe the start of bargaining and to support the team.

We presented our non-economic proposals to management, mainly dealing with rights: RNs’ right to fair treatment, right to be patient advocates.

Interestingly, management also presented non-economic proposals.

After some deliberation and discussion, the union agreed to a few of management’s proposals, though they did not agree to any of ours yet. We hope that they follow our lead and show a similar reasonableness and willingness to agree to our proposals.

The next bargaining date is October 25, with a few more dates in early November. Although we have proposed roughly 100 possible bargaining dates, only 4 (plus one tentatively) have been agreed to so far.

Thank you for your support. We’ve accomplished much with your support, but the movement never stops!