Dozens of UNAP members and supporters turned out at the State House on March 22 to support legislation that would End Mandatory Overtime and promote Safe Patient Handling.

Click here to read Providence Journal article

Click here to send an email asking elected officials to end mandatory overtime

Click here to send an email asking elected officials to support Safe Patient Handling.

For more information, go to the UNAP Political Action page.

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After a full year of negotiations and a hard-hitting community campaign, which included leafleting, picketing, meeting with state legislators and appearing on a local radio station, UNAP, Local 5050 won its first contract. As a result, employees now have a real grievance procedure with arbitration, more job security, more secure wages, some modest relief when it comes to out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drug coverage, and more money for training and professional development. The Local also protected other significant benefits including paid leave and leave of absence benefits.

Safe Lifting

That the United Nurses & Allied Professionals will educate its members, health care administrators, health care educators, and policy makers about the benefits of mechanical lifting and other ergonomic alternatives to manual lifting, and will forcefully advoc ate for the installation of mechanical lifting equipment and other ergonomic alternatives in all health care workplaces in order to reduce injuries to staff and patients.

Safe Staffing & Mandatory Overtime

That the UNAP and its affiliated locals commit to improving staffing levels by utilizing the information contained in the annual Hospital Staffing Disclosure report to the RI Department of Health.

That the UNAP and its affiliated locals remain committed to ending the unsafe practice of mandatory overtime by negotiating and enforcing contract language that limits the practice except in emergencies, and by improving recruitment, retention and staffing levels in all UNAP facilities.

UNAP Local 5110 members voted to approve a two-year extension on their contract, which will now expire on June 30, 2008. The Union and management agreed to restructure the wage scale for RNs, which will result in wage increases of between 5-9% in January 2006. RNs will receive an additional 7-9% in wage increases between January, 2005 and January, 2007, plus step increases for those nurses below the maximum. There will be no increase in the percent RNs pay toward their medical insurance coverage through the end of the extension in 2008. The Local also negotiated an increase in the oncall rate.

Nurses and Home Care Aides at the VNS are negotiating wage rates for a contract reopener. The Union has made steady progress building up the maximum rates for nurse members and the Union has made steady progress reducing the years to the maximum pay rates for Home Care Aides.