Nurses from several NEPA area hospitals came together to hold a vigil Wednesday night. The reason for the vigil was to shine a light on staffing shortages and other issues at their hospitals, which are owned by a for-profit company.
Community Health Systems, the for-profit owner of Wilkes-Barre General, was recently cited by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry for at least 10 violations of Pennsylvania Act 102, which bans mandatory overtime for nurses and other health care workers.
“Our region, this is where coal mine unions came from. My grandfather worked in the mine. You have that history, and we’re very serious about our history. You had the garment workers, railroad workers, the coal mines here, where the 8 hr day came from… This is our heritage and we take it very seriously.”
“Who’s going to fill those shoes without a good contract to attract nurses to come here?” asked Elaine Weale, president of the local Wyoming Valley Nurses Association. “We can only fill them for so long.”
The approximately 450 graduate and registered nurses, who are members of the Wyoming Valley Nurses Association local of Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP), walked the picket line for five days, beginning on Friday. They had been working under the terms of a two-year contract that expired in April 2013.
“It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to know that this organization doesn’t want to pay for adequate staffing,” Cartwright told nurses. “It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to know that without adequate staffing, patient safety is at risk.”
The union representing registered nurses at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital claims the hospital broke the law in unfair labor charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board.
