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American Red Cross Nurses to Picket and Leaflet
Outside Red Cross Offices in Dedham As Contract Talks Stall
and Management Refuses to Negotiate or Arbitrate
Nurses Seek Reasonable Salary Scale, Working
Conditions and Equitable Benefits
Registered nurses at the American Red Cross, who
have been attempting to negotiate a new contract with agency
management since last July, are taking their case to the public
for support in protecting their union rights. As part of their
effort, the nurses will conduct an informational picketing and
leafleting today outside the Dedham Headquarters (as well as
at five other American Red Cross sites throughout the state). The
nurses plan to picket from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The 68 American Red Cross RNs, who are represented
by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, have been negotiating
their new contract since July 10, 2000. The nurses' last
contract expired on August 15, 2000. After a number
of negotiating sessions, a tentative agreement was reached in
February, but was rejected by the membership on March 14, 2001. A
request by the nurses to submit the remaining unresolved issues
to Interest Arbitration was rejected by management, spurring
the nurses to picket and leaflet for public support.
The RNs provide a variety of services including
conducting blood drives throughout the state, teaching first
aide and CPR classes to citizens and health professionals, and
apherisis, a specified form of blood donating by removing platelets
which are an important tool in cancer treatment. With headquarters
in Dedham, the MNA-represented nurses work out of five different
regional offices located in Springfield, Worcester, Peabody,
Dedham and Haverhill.
The talks have stalled over key issues: salary,
travel allowance and working conditions. The top salary
currently is $25.27 per hour but the majority of the nurses are
receiving less than $20 per hour, with many making $17 per hour. These
rates are far below those of nurses working in the Commonwealth. The
nurses are also seeking the same travel allowance provided to
other Red Cross employees ($800 per year). This is only
fair and equitable, especially since nurses are required to use
their own automobiles for business travel.
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