Daily Archives: March 20, 2015

03.20.15
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NNU and Reclaim Chicago’s Mayoral Endorsement – Signal of New Political Movement

With a runoff vote only two weeks away, one Chicago politician figures almost as prominently in the city’s mayoral campaign as do the two candidates themselves, incumbent Rahm Emmanuel and his challenger, Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.

That would be the city’s first African American Mayor, the late Harold Washington.

In accepting the endorsement today of Reclaim Chicago, Garcia compared the new independent political organization to the grassroots workers’ movement that powered Washington’s Rainbow Coalition to a surprising 1983 victory over the city’s infamous Democratic machine, led for decades by Mayor Richard “Boss” Daley.

“I am proud to receive the endorsement of Reclaim Chicago, and I am proud and humbled to be cast as a bearer of the legacy of Harold Washington. When we came together and elected Harold as Mayor against all odds, the feeling of empowerment and potential for change for a new Chicago was electric. He was one of us: Our Mayor!  My years’ working beside Mayor Washington inspire me and informs the kind of Mayor I intend to be.”

“Like Mayor Washington, I believe that the people of Chicago and our communities are the heart and soul of the city. Mayor Emanuel believes that his crony corporations are all that matters. He views the working families of this city with indifference, unworthy of either regard or a fair share of civic resources.”

Garcia also proclaimed support for a financial transaction tax on Wall Street speculation, and called for a health policy “must support access in every neighborhood to quality,” health care for every resident.

Reclaim Chicago is supported by National Nurses United, the nation’s largest organization of organized nurses, and the People’s Lobby, a membership organization dedicated to fighting for a fair economy and a just society.

Prior to the February primary, Reclaim Chicago’s members logged nearly 5,000 hours and 60,000 voter contacts evenly divided on the city’ South side—which locals often say “built the city”—and the North side, which owns it. The coalition’s blue-collar quality is a throwback to Washington’s first campaign in which he spent as much time turning out the vote in Chicago’s infamous housing projects, as he did among the “lakefront liberals” who are among the city’s power elite.

In casting himself as a Democrat in the Washington mold, Garcia is distancing himself from the moderate, neo-liberal policies embodied by Emmanuel, who has closed schools and mental health clinics even while subsidizing developers’ high-end projects.

As one signal of that, following his statement, one reporter asked Garcia about his criticism of a big development project that would bring some jobs to the city. “We speak not against development, we speak against corporate welfare, we speak against cronyism. We don’t think tax increment financing was intended to benefit the rich and wealthy and well connected. And don’t forget that the prime beneficiary of this project made a half a million contribution to Rahm Emanuel just days ago.”

At a press conference held in front of a lavish Marriott hotel that is the beneficiary of Emmanuel’s largesse, Martese Chism, a registered nurse at John H. Stroger Hospital and one of 6,000 Chicago-area RNs represented by National Nurses United, outlined a different perspective that challenges the rote traditional way endorsements are made.

“Rahm Emanuel and the current city council are failing to put the needs of the people first. As a nurse, I see up close the suffering that results from Rahm’s choices. The choice to close 6 mental health clinics put our patients at risk and resulted in suicide and incarceration of the mentally ill that just needed treatment,” Chism noted.

“I come from a family of civil rights activists,” said Chism. “Fifty years ago, my great grandmother marched across the Selma Edmund Pettis Bridge. Ten months later my great grandmother was murdered after coming back from a voting rights hearing in Jackson, Ms. My vote is very important. When I vote, I vote for candidates who reflect nurses’ values and put the needs of the community first.”   

Ken Franklin, President of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 308 echoed those remarks: “We are outraged with school closings. We are outraged with union busting attempts by the rich and powerful. The city is being sold out to the wealth at the expense of the middle and working class. Give the city back to the people.”

One recent poll showed Garcia in a statistical dead heat with Emmanuel, whose campaign war chest is exponentially larger. Said Reclaim Chicago spokeswoman Kristi Sandford: “We really see Chicago as a battleground for the soul of the Democratic Party.”

03.20.15
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Project 24 for World Water Day

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Medical Solutions sponsors Planet Water Foundation's Project 24 for World Water Day

The mission of Project 24 is “to move the hands of time forward in 24 impoverished communities by installing and commissioning 24 clean water filtration systems in just 24 hours.”

Travel Nurses encounter so many new places throughout their adventures; each area with its own unique characteristics and qualities. But there’s one thing in common at most every location in the United States, and it’s something many of us take for granted: Clean, safe water for drinking, washing, and cooking.

Did you know that every 24 hours 4,000 children worldwide die from water-related illnesses?

In order to combat such heartbreaking statistics, Planet Water Foundation will celebrate World Water Day 2015, this Sunday, March 22, with its bold, impactful initiative, Project 24.

The mission of Project 24 is “to move the hands of time forward in 24 impoverished communities by installing and commissioning 24 clean water filtration systems in just 24 hours.”

Preah Kau Girl at Well

A young girl without access to sanitary water uses a well in Preah Kau.

Travel Nurse company Medical Solutions is sponsoring one of these installations, which occurs at 2 p.m. EST on Sunday, March 22, 2015, in the Cambodian village of Preah Kau. This system alone will provide access to clean water for bathing, cooking, and cleaning to 122 students, 145 households, and 794 other beneficiaries in the small, rural village. The installation in Preah Kau will be webcast live via Medical Solutions’ Project 24 sponsor site, where you can also learn more about the village and effort, and even donate  if you want to help.

Here are some more statistics about water consumption:

In the U.S.

  • The U.S. wastes 7 billion gallons of drinking water a day.
  • Average daily total water use in the U.S. is 355 billion gallons.
  • The average American’s lifestyle uses 2,000 gallons of water a day.

In Developing Nations/Cambodia:

  • More than twice the population of the U.S. lives without access to safe water.
  • In the world, more people have a mobile phone than have a toilet.
  • Every day women spend 200 million hours carrying water. On average, in developing nations, women spend 25% of each day collecting water for their families. This is time not spent working at an income-generating job, caring for family, or attending school.
  • 4 out of 10 people in rural Cambodia (where the Medical Solutions-sponsored systems are) don’t have access to clean water.
  • Each year, 443 million school days are lost due to water-related illnesses.
  • 40% of primary schools in Cambodia do not have access to safe water and sanitation.
  • Half the hospital beds in developing countries are filled with people suffering from diseases caused by poor water sanitation and hygiene.

Click here to learn more about Medical Solutions’ ongoing support of the awesome work being done by Planet Water Foundation.

Preah Kau Kiddos

These three darling kiddos are just an example of the many children and families being helped through Project 24.

03.20.15
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TPP: Not a good trade

Rose Roach

MNA Executive Director Rose Roach

By Rose Roach, MNA Executive Director

 

Recently, we’ve seen some lawmakers talking the benefits of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, including President Obama and 6th District US Rep. Tom Emmer. The Delano Republican’s endorsement is interesting, considering he’s never seen the whole of the TPP agreement. No member of Congress has. Only the 600 corporate negotiators know what’s really in it, which doesn’t inspire much confidence. US Rep. Keith Ellison (MN-5th) is one of the several members of Congress who have requested it but still hasn’t gotten it. All we can go on is what actual trade experts think will transpire if TPP becomes law. The consequences of the TPP are frightening, especially for anyone who routinely uses prescription drugs or depends on a living wage.

 

For starters, the TPP would establish an agreement for tariffs and trade provisions in 12 nations, including the US, Australia, and Japan. Some provisions would be equal, others wouldn’t. One that appears to be unilateral has been pushed by pharmaceutical companies. They hope to be able to hold on to “data exclusivity” for 12 years. That means any research on new drugs is proprietary, and it will delay the release of generic drugs from any of these nations until well past the point when a patient needs them. The cost of drugs will go up, even for veterans, who are charged less than market rate.   ICU nurses see patients regularly who have to be placed on a ventilator due to heart failure simply because they couldn’t afford their life sustaining medication, medication that in many cases, costs the pharmaceutical company pennies on the dollar to actually make but because they are beholden to their shareholders, they mark-up the costs to ensure a hefty profit denying patients the ability to purchase the medication they desperately need. This “trade” agreement further entrenches these practices and puts public health at risk. Public health is not something that should be up for trade.

 

Because corporate regulations would be the same across TPP nations, corporations would be free to sue governments with rules or requirements that impact their business. This already exists under the North American Free Trade Agreement, but it would be greatly expanded under the TPP. It’s not crazy, and it’s already happened with countries being ordered to use taxpayer dollars to make up lost profit a corporation experiences due to laws that protect consumers. All the regulations the US has pioneered to protect its citizens, from food safety to environmental protections, could be challenged and overruled.

With such a low bar, policies that encourage the hiring of US companies and their US workers would be gone too. US federal contracts could go to any nation. “Buy local” incentives would be history, meaning companies would be encouraged to offshore even more services such as IT support, customer service, even HR and accounting. President Obama touts TPP as a “progressive” deal because it would require all nations to stick to their respective minimum wage laws. That’s pretty meaningless when each country has a different minimum wage, and some don’t have one at all.

 

By far, the most maddening aspect of TPP is its secrecy. The fast track approval process means our elected representatives in Congress won’t see it until it’s done, and it’s not up for debate. They’ll either have to vote it up or down. This flies against the very words in the US Constitution (Article I, Section 8) that guarantee our local representatives in Congress the exclusive authority to determine the terms of trade policy. If TPP is such a terrific trade deal, the public, through its elected representatives, should be allowed to have a full and open debate to ensure this agreement really is in the best interest of the American people.

 

Summing up, we give away our rights to decide our future, our good jobs, our living wages, our consumer and environmental protections, and our ability to buy cheaper product including drugs that could save our lives. In exchange, we get next to nothing. That doesn’t sound like a very good trade at all.

03.20.15
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Health Law Brings No Drop In Insurance Enrollment At Work, Study Finds

There has been much hand wringing over the health law requirement that large employers this year offer insurance to workers who put in 30 or more hours a week or face penalties for not doing so. The new rules would cost employers a bundle, some fretted, as part-timers clamored for company coverage previously unavailable to them. Others worried that employers would cut workers’ hours to get under the cap.

A new study found that so far there’s little cause for concern: Average enrollment in company plans was essentially unchanged between 2014 and 2015 at 74 percent of all workers.

The survey of nearly 600 employers by benefits consultant Mercer found that in 2015 the average percentage of employees who were eligible for coverage increased 1 point to 88 percent, but it was offset by a drop in the enrollment of eligible workers of 1 point on average, to 83 percent.

Part of the explanation for the stable results stems from the fact that most employers were already in compliance, says Beth Umland, Mercer’s director of research for health and benefits.

In 2014, employees had to work 25 hours a week on average to be offered health insurance, according to Mercer. That figure has edged up since 2011, when it was 23 hours weekly, but is still well below the law’s 30-hour threshold.

Still, while the expansion in eligibility wasn’t a big change for many employers, “if you were impacted you were really impacted,” says Tracy Watts, Mercer’s national leader for health care reform.

Food and lodging companies were most affected by the new rules, with the average percentage of workers who were eligible for coverage increasing from 57 to 60 percent. Other industry sectors that felt the change included health care, where per diem nurses and other professionals take on short-term assignments, and higher education, which employs many part-time adjunct professors, says Watts.

But most employers aren’t changing their practices to discourage health plan enrollment, the survey found. Seventy-three percent said they had no plans to change, while 16 percent said they ensured that newly hired part-timers work fewer than 30 hours weekly, and 19 percent said they reduced the hours of employees who consistently or occasionally worked more than 30 hours a week.

Even though the health law aims to encourage employers to offer coverage by imposing fines on those who don’t do so, not all take advantage of the offer. Workers might not sign up because they have other options under the health law. Low-income workers may be eligible for Medicaid in states that have expanded coverage to adults with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Young people can stay on their parents’ plan until they turn 26 under the health law, and many people continue to get coverage through their spouses.

Please contact Kaiser Health News to send comments or ideas for future topics for the Insuring Your Health column.

Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

03.20.15
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Introducing ~ Lux Travel Nurse – A Nurse Owned Company

The Gypsy Nurse would like to introduce you to Lux Travel Nurse Lux Travel Nurse is owned and operated by not only a nurse, but one of our own…a Travel Nurse. Please help support one of our fellow nurses in her endeavors by clicking the logo and checking out the Jobs opportunities available via Lux […]

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