by Mike Hall, May 4, 2011
Registered nurses at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., who have been fighting for safe patient care and strong nursing standards for nearly a year, reached a tentative agreement last night on a new contract with the hospital. The nearly 1,700 nurses are members of National Nurses United (NNU).
Lori Marlowe, RN, a cardiac nurse who is a member of the union’s bargaining team, says:
We are pleased to have achieved an agreement with the hospital that strengthens our ability to effectively advocate for our patients and protects RN professional and economic standards.
Details of the settlement are being withheld pending membership meetings with the nurses before they vote on the contract.
The nurses at the largest hospital in the nation’s capital—owned by the MedStar Health chain—have been without a contract since June. In October they voted by a 15-1 margin to join the NNU. In March hospital management temporarily locked out the nurses. With the proposed agreement, the RNs are canceling picketing at the hospital that had been scheduled for Friday.
