I don't want to fund my own oppression!
By Ann Kettering Sincox
The testimony, at times, was horrific. Registered nurses from the Detroit Medical Center, some with tears glistening in their eyes, told stories of harassment and intimidation because of their interest in forming a union at their workplace. A stack of anti-union materials almost too big to hold in one hand was shown to the legislators. Stunned Michigan Representatives from the House Labor Committee grew increasingly alarmed as nurse after nurse after nurse implored them to pass House Bill 4443, the Public Funds Protection Act.
The issue at hand: using public funds – your taxpayer dollars – on anti-union campaigns. Ken Fletcher, MNA Director of Government Affairs, explained it to the Representatives in this way:
“House Bill 4443 simply states that a person who receives state funds shall not use state funds wholly or in part to interfere with or discourage unionization by that person’s employees or the employees of any other employer. To ensure compliance with this ban, the bill requires a person who receives state funds and who expends any funds to interfere with or discourage unionization to maintain accurate and complete records of all anti-union expenditures. They must then file a quarterly report with the Department of Labor and Economic Growth proving that they had not used public funds to finance their anti-union activities.”
It has been suspected for quite some time that the Detroit Medical Center is using public funds to help support their current aggressive anti-union campaign. Over $330 million is paid to the DMC hospitals for traditional Medicaid payments, and the DMC receives over $35 million in state and federal funds in the form of discretionary Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments. As Fletcher pointed out, even if the DMC isn’t using that money for their anti-union campaign, which of the five sources of money for hospitals are they using: Medicaid, DSH payments, Medicare, private insurance or payments from individuals? None of that should be used for union-busting!
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And we know that money – a lot of money – is being spent. DMC has hired IRI Consultants to Management, a firm that was recently hired by Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH) in Connecticut to combat employees there who were trying to organize with SEIU. In less than two years, during which time IRI Consultants were working with YNHH, they billed over $2.2 million in fees. The methods IRI Consultants used to intimidate and harass the workers were so heinous that the hospital eventually had to shell out over $4.5 million in fines to both the union and the YNHH workers.
Fletcher stated, “Unfortunately, DMC is following the same play book that IRI used at Yale and is engaging in the same unethical conduct that got Yale-New Haven Hospital fined millions of dollars.”
The DMC RNs are hanging tough but the intimidation continues to grow. Yet the DMC RNs persevere. Hundreds of postcards asking Governor Granholm to support a fair election were presented to her by a delegation from the DMC RNs. A Community Rally honoring International Human Rights Day was held on December 10, 2007 in front of Harper Hutzel in a show of support for the nurses.
You can help by visiting the DMC RN website. On the website, you will find a Community Response pledge to fill out so that you are alerted when events like the rallies or other activities are occurring.
MNA is also continuing to promote support for H.B. 4443. As the time draws closer for the House Labor Committee to move this important bill on to the House for a full vote, we will be calling on health care workers to contact their legislators. To receive the latest news on H.B. 4443, subscribe to NurseLine, MNA’s free e-newsletter by sending your name to carol.smith@minurses.org.
This is your time to have a say in how your tax dollars are being spent. As one RN stated during the hearing, “I don’t want to fund my own oppression.” Don’t let your tax dollars be a part of this outrageous spending! i
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