The iStand Press Conference
Today, CNA tried to hold a press conference. There were 5 RNs who are organizing for CNA, ten or fifteen community members, a few different media sources and and about 10 CNA employees. And then the 65 iStand RNs and other professionals wearing teal colored clothing showed up. We were a little exuberant and perhaps a bit unruly, and also anxious to finally have our side of the story heard. We dominated the press conference from that point on. Cars drove by honking and waving our colors (teal, of course). We cheered. In response to claims made by employees speaking on behalf of the CNA that we are chronically understaffed and RNs can’t take full breaks and the hospital keeps making cuts that hurt patients, iStand RNs contested the claims they made and demanded truth telling.
What was particularly notable was how angry the CNA employees became when we disrupted the press conference. They yelled at us to “Shut Up.” The guy yelling “Shut Up”, a CNA employee, looked ready to have a stroke- bulging veins on his forehead and his hands balled into fists. Another CNA employee angrily said to me “You’re not a RN, you’re a CNS.” I had to tell him you can’t be a CNS without a valid RN license and the NLRB has included CNSs in the bargaining pool in every union election I’ve heard about recently. And two male CNA employees pushed iStand RNs out of the way. CNA showing it’s thug side, I guess.
A number of us have sent communications to Pasadena Councilman Victor Gordo, Representative Carol Liu, John Grula of the Pasadena Weekly, Rabbi Joshua Levine of Pasadena Jewish Temple and others with absolutely no response from any of them. We used this opportunity to begin to have our side of the story heard. Victor Gordo agreed to meet with us. We are grateful that Melissa Masatani of the Pasadena Star News wrote a very balanced and unbiased report of the press conference. We will be contacting her to tell our side of the story. Carol Liu’s representative asked that we provide proof of our claims yet he does not seem to hold the CNA to the same standard. We will also be contacting her office again to meet. Jennifer Waldron, Tony Melendez and others spoke with ABC news and we look forward to hearing those reports.
While part of our purpose at this press conference/rally was to speak up against the misrepresentations by employee nurses organizing for CNA, other hospital professionals showed up to support us. Dietitians, Respiratory Care Practitioners and others joined us. In reality, it’s about ALL of us. It is about all of us because if CNA is successful in organizing our nurses, SEIU or NUHW will come in and attempt to unionize the rest of our co-workers. This may happen even if CNA loses the election. And our co-workers don’t want a union either.
We will fight this to its conclusion. We need to make sure everyone votes- regardless of what they vote. We aren’t going to try to tell people not to vote, because that’s not what democracy is about. But we will defeat this attempt to organize us. Just Watch!
It’s been a long 6 months since we first became active. But here is our very first blog post:
This site has been created for Huntington employees who favor the use of their own voice to work out issues with administration. We do not deny there are real issues. Administration IS listening, and while it might seem as if they are trying to pacify the unrest, in reality many of these changes had been planned for months, if not years.
We believe:
- We do not need to pay a union to be an intermediary between us and Huntington Administration to solve problems.
- That unions make promises they cannot keep.
- That each individual must examine unbiased sites as well as information from the unions.
Want more info? Just want someone to talk to about it?
Look for the people wearing the iStandWithHuntington badges. If you are interested in being on a mailing list, please comment below. Comments won’t appear until I approve them, but I won’t approve these. Leave your name, unit, home email and cell number and we’ll keep you in the loop for all of our plans.