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Federal Legislation Pending to Eliminate Mandatory Overtime

Companion bills, called the Safe Nursing and Patient Care Act, have been introduced in the House of Representatives (HR 2122) and Senate (S. 1842). They would ban mandatory overtime for all hospitals receiving Medicare funding but also have a common sense approach kim heverlythat would permit the lifting of mandatory overtime limitations in the face of a formally declared emergency. 

Studies have routinely shown that the use of forced overtime endangers nurses and their patients. One--published in the July/August 2004 issue of Health Affairs-- found that nurses who worked shifts of 12.5 hours or more were three times more likely to commit an error than nurses who worked standard shifts of 8.5 hours or less.

In addition, exhausted and overworked nurses simply are not as alert as nurses working regular shifts, increasing the risk of medical errors. The Institute of Medicine has reported that medical errors in the nation’s hospitals cause between 44,000 and 98,000 deaths each year. Mandatory overtime puts patient care at risk, but it is also contributing to the growing nursing shortage as more and more exhausted nurses leave the bedside due to poor working conditions.

Federal laws and regulations place limits on overtime in the interest of public safety for airline pilots, truck drivers, and air traffic controllers. Critically ill patients also deserve protection. There should be no mandatory overtime for nurses.

HR 2122 was introduced by Reps. Pete Stark (D-CA) and Steven LaTourette (R-OH). Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry of Massachusetts sponsor the Senate version.

SEIU rallies against pay cut proposal

July 24, 2008

SACRAMENTO -- The Service Employees International Union rallied on the Capitol steps Thursday afternoon with a straightforward message to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger: Cut our pay at your peril.

A few hundred purple-clad union members and state employees loudly proclaimed their opposition to a gubernatorial executive order next week that would cut 200,000 state workers' pay to federal minimum wage until a new budget is approved.

"We can't survive on six-fifty-five!" members chanted, referring to the hourly wage they'd receive, lower than the state's minimum wage of $8 an hour.

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SEIU Calls on Health Insurance Companies to Join the Health Care Reform Team

WASHINGTON - July 21 - Michelle Gray, from Springfield, Ohio, works hard every day as a nurse for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Thanks to her union, SEIU District 1199 WKO, she has access to quality health care at an affordable price.

Gray's daughter is not so fortunate. A single mother, Gray's daughter works for a small nursing home business that struggles to provide a health care plan for its workers. While the plan covers her daughter, it won't cover her grandson, because his autism is considered a preexisting condition. Instead, taxpayers pick up the tab for the insurance companies' refusal to provide affordable coverage for Gray's grandson, with his care paid for through Ohio's CareSource program.

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McCain healthcare
SEIU recently released a review of John McCain's disastrous health care proposals as part of an extensive voter education campaign. The research will be shared with the more than 500,000 health care voters identified by SEIU through its Americans for Health Care campaign, as well as other voters, union members and community allies.

As the research shows, McCain’s latest ideas for health care would actually make obtaining coverage more difficult for the average working family and raise health care costs for millions of hardworking Americans.

The McCain’s health care plan is harmful to workers is of little surprise; McCain’s closest campaign advisers are the very insider lobbyists who are benefiting from the current broken system.

» Read the full report.

» Read the full press release.

The Drumbeat for Health Care Grows

WASHINGTON - July 8 - With momentum building for fundamental change in the nation’s health care system, SEIU – the largest union of health care workers – today helped launch a new, national coalition that will bring together millions of Americans to demand quality, affordable health care for all.

“In America, war is a given, and health care is a maybe. In America, fast food is affordable and health care is not. That’s today’s America. Tomorrow’s will be much, much different,” said SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger at the launch of ‘Health Care for America NOW.’ “That’s the power this unprecedented coalition signifies.”

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Keep Private Equity Away From Our Banks

By ANDY STERN
July 7, 2008

The recent efforts by Congress and the Federal Reserve to facilitate capital injections by private-equity firms into banks may seem like a welcome development. But a closer look reveals that all that glitters isn't gold.

A growing number of ailing banks and thrifts need cash fast – and private-equity funds are anxious to deliver. With built-in cash cows in the form of mortgages, credit cards and accounts subject to an endless array of fees and interest-rate hikes, banks are a ripe target for private-equity firms seeking returns of 20%-30% or higher over relatively short periods.

But short-term capital infusions from private-equity funds will only make the banking crisis worse, by encouraging risky behavior and abusive banking practices.

It's hard to imagine private-equity funds resisting the urge to double down on the tactics banks have used to drive profits in recent years – unfair lending practices, higher fees, and exorbitant interest rates on credit cards and other consumer products. Are America's working families prepared to absorb that kind of risk?

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