To All SBMC NJNU members:

NJNU filed an arbitration on behalf of our members because of the readjustment of seniority by management. Attached is the arbitrator's award or decision. Once the seniority has been corrected according to the award, new seniority lists will be posted.

Maria Refinski RN BSN

President NJNU

Weingarten Rights apply during investigatory interviews. An investigatory interview occurs when (1) management questions an employee to obtain information; and (2) the employee is being asked to defend his or her conduct and/or has a reasonable belief that discipline or other adverse consequences may result from what he or she says.

When a supervisor calls an employee to the office to announce a warning or other discipline, is this an investigatory interview? The NLRB says no, because the supervisor is merely informing the employee of a previously arrived at decision. Such a meeting becomes an investigatory interview, however, if the supervisor asks questions that are related to the subject matter of the discipline.

HIPAA AND COMPUTER INFORMATIONAL TECHNOLOGY

Computers have really revolutionized nursing care. We can access patient information within seconds or minutes. We can do bedside charting.  The patient care plan is automatically compiled from physician orders and information entered by other nurses that is pertinent to the care of the patient.

Yet with the advances of CIT (Computer informational technology) nurses today need to be aware of the pitfalls of the accessing patient information on computers.  When you put your password in and start to document or look up information on your patient every stroke of that keyboard is recorded in the patient’s record.

Please be advised, the Livingston RN and LPN contracts have been extended for one week from the expiration date of our current contract. Your negotiating team concluded bargaining at 10 pm Friday, October 30, 2009 with most of the RN non-economic issues settled.  We are still discussing lay-off language in the LPN contract.

NJNU presented management our proposals on economics for both contracts in Livingston, and management rejected our proposals and has not offered any counter proposal at this time.  

For KMC/SBBHC, management has rejected all of our economic counter proposals and stated that we would receive no more than the non-union employee’s would receive. This means no wage increase in 2009 as well as no increase in 24 months.

We are resuming negotiations on Monday, November 2, 2009.  

On Wednesday, October 28, 2009 the KMC/SBBHC team met with the hospital. We expressed our disappointment with regards to the "Joe Hicks" meeting. The hospital said they would give the nurses what the non-union employees would be getting, but no more. We submitted a counter proposal which the hospital has not responded to yet.  

There will be a meeting as soon as we have something to bring to the membership. At that meeting we will explain everything and ask for a vote.

Remember we all are a part of the NJNU “TEAM” because:

Your Bargaining Committee