Florida

Eighty 1199 bargaining and contract action team members at the end of January launched their statewide campaign to negotiate contracts at 19 HCA-affiliated hospitals in Florida. The group of nurses, techs, pharmacists, environmental services workers, dietary workers and secretaries spent a day and a half developing a unified set of principles, coming to agreement on contract priorities and ratifying a plan to gain the strength necessary to negotiate with the nation’s largest for-profit hospital chain.



“We’re off and running,” said Angelo Lista, a PCA from Fawcett Memorial Hospital in Port Charlotte. “Now it’s going to be up to every one of us to build our membership so we have enough power behind us at the bargaining table. It’s not about what’s in front of you - it’s about who’s behind you.”



This month, bargaining and contract action team members at all 19 unionized HCA-affiliated hospitals throughout Florida will be focused on growth by organizing meetings, holding break-room conversations and spreading the news about negotiations starting February 26.



“We’re working together to grow our power so we can make some contract improvements, especially around staffing and safety issues,” said Robin Dobkin, a nurse at University Hospital in Tamarac. “We want to make sure our union contract is understandable and we have to engage with as many co-workers as we can to have clarity about where we need to make changes. This is our union contract and I’m reminding my coworkers that the union starts with ‘u.’ Our union is only as strong as the people who are in it, so let’s get to work!”

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