MT. CLEMENS, Mich. (PAI)—If you’re a registered nurse and your union contract with two hospitals includes safe-staffing ratios, what do you do if the hospitals break those pact provisions?

The answer from Office and Professional Employees Local 40, which represents 1,000 nurses at two hospitals in the upscale Detroit suburb of Mount Clemens, Mich., is you hammer at the issue in bargaining sessions, file labor law-breaking complaints with the National Labor Relations Board – and raise hell in public.

Which is what the local did, convening a Town Hall meeting in Mount Clemens on the evening of April 19 to tell the community what’s going on, and take questions, Local President Jeff Morawski said in a pre-meeting telephone interview.

Safe staffing is a nationwide problem, as insurers lean on hospitals to cut costs by cutting down the number of nurses available per shift. The firms’ tactic is to deny reimbursements for claims, arguing they’re paying too much for too many people. One result is doctors’ short visits with patients.

After long, difficult negotiations marked with hospital proposals for significant concessions, Local 459 secured a new contract that maintains healthcare for registered nurses at McLaren Greater Lansing (MGL).

Washington, D.C. – Nurse members of the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), AFL-CIO, from around the country will descend on Capitol Hill on Friday, May 5, 2017, to meet with their legislators and demand safe nurse to patient ratio legislation aimed at protecting nurses, patients and their families.

The nurses, represented by the OPEIU Nurses Council (ONC), will also participate in the Nurses Take DC Rally for Safe Nurse to Patient Ratios, joining an anticipated 10,000 nurses from around the country who are gathering to raise public awareness of the dangers posed by unsafe nurse staffing levels in hospitals and medical clinics. ONC Vice Chair Julie Murray, RN, is among the scheduled speakers.

Two new safe staffing bills have been introduced in New York and Ohio. Democratic Senator Michael Skindell from Ohio has proposed SB 324 to the Ohio legislature. This bill mirrors the staffing ratios set in California in 2004. New York Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther has proposed A01532 titled the Safe Staffing for Quality Care Act. This bill also sets ratios and also addresses the issues of long term care facilities by determining staffing according to a minimum of care hours per resident per day for RNs, LPNs and CNAs. For RNs it would be figured at 0.75 divided among all shifts 24 hours a day divided amongst all shifts for seven days a week. For LPNs it is 1.3 hours and CNAs are at 2.8 hours.