Nurses at University of Cincinnati Medical Center to set up picket to protest job actions

Ramping up pressure on the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, the union for the hospital’s nurses has called for an informational picket line Sept. 10 in the third month of protest that management fired a veteran nurse and disciplined another.

The Registered Nurses Association, representing 1,700 nurses at UCMC, says the hospital is stalling a grievance on the actions against nurses Jennifer Donaldson and Michelle Thoman in June. The union says the hospital has put off the hearing at least four times, most recently Aug. 28, and no new hearing has been scheduled.

The union also is pushing a petition that UCMC is trying to silence union members and leaders. The union also has complained to the National Labor Relations Board. Democratic presidential candidates U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sen. Kamala Harris of California have expressed support for Donaldson and Thoman.

Donaldson worked at UCMC in labor and delivery for 28 years and was active in the RNA. Thoman, with five years as a nurse at UCMC, was union president. The union said the nurses had spotless disciplinary records.

Read more: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2019/09/02/hospital-nurses-at-university-of-cincinnati-to-set-up-picket-in-job-protest/2154571001/