MNA members join unions, education advocates, and homeless groups to fight for the Robin Hood Tax

Washington DC’s Farragut Square turned into Sherwood Forest this weekend as 2,000 Robin Hoods rallied for a Wall Street Tax to pay for healthcare, medical research, and education.

Fifteen MNA members joined union nurses from Massachusetts, DC, and across the country to demand President Obama and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew to implement the “Robin Hood Tax,” a transaction fee on stock trading that could generate $260 billion for the needs of the middle class.

MNA members Peter Danielson and Katie Skipton join 2,000 people in Farragut Square

“We have seen the devastation of our patients at the bedside,” said Bernadine (Bunny) Engeldorf, RN, Vice-President of MNA, “we discharge our patients to the streets because some people are picking between healthcare and paying the mortgage.”

“As nurses we can be advocates for patients because we see first-hand how the economy has affected our patients,” said Katie Skipton, RN, from Bemidji.

Buses full tourists in DC for the cherry blossom season saw nurses put on a flash mob as they rallied for an hour with other unions and more than 140 organizations, including ATU and Public Service International.  Then they marched from the square to the White House to the US Treasury Building carrying giant puppets of wealthy Wall Street bankers.  Nurses were also trying to get the attention of G-20 finance ministers and dovetail on the introduction of the “Inclusive Prosperity Act,” HR 1579, which was introduced by Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN).

“If you can’t be strong enough to go to work, it affects your mental health,” Engeldorf, a mental health nurse, said, “we’ve had people actively suicidal because they can’t get a job.”

“We do our best to get patients healthy and get them home,” Kipton said, “but once they leave the hospital no amount of care or education will help them keep their house.”

Besides the rally, Minnesota MNA members met with the staffs of Minnesota Congressional members Betty McCollum, Colin Peterson, Keith Ellison, and Rick Nolan.

MNA members gather after the Robin Hood Tax Rally

NOTES ON NURSING

Nurses Fight State by State for Minimum Staffing Laws   Legislatures in at least seven states and the District of Columbia are trying to answer that question as they debate bills that would require hospitals to have a minimum number of nurses on staff at all times.

Ruling:  MI Hospital Cheated Nurses Out of Proper Pay   McLaren Lapeer Region improperly cut the wages of 51 registered nurses and must pay them tens of thousands of dollars in back pay, an arbitrator has ruled.

LABOR UPDATES

Minnesota’s Pay Equity Laws Have Bridged Gap for Women   Fifty years after Congress passed the Equal Pay Act, women still make less than men. Except in Minnesota. For public employees, there is no pay gap. It didn’t happen by accident.

Reeling Elsewhere, Labor Poised for Minnesota Gains    As economic changes batter organized labor nationwide, eroding its membership and political power, Minnesota has emerged as one of the few places where unions are faring well.

HEALTH CARE

Senate Unveils Mayo’s Destination Medical Center Plans   Rochester residents would be allowed to serve on the authority board overseeing Mayo Clinic’s Destination Medical Center plan under a Senate plan unveiled Monday.

U.S. Hospitals Send Hundreds of Immigrants Back Home    Hundreds of immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally have taken similar journeys through a little-known removal system run not by the federal government trying to enforce laws but by hospitals seeking to curb high costs.