House fails to protect overtime rights

The U.S. House of Representatives rejected efforts to block new overtime rules recently issued by the U.S. Department of Labor. To avoid an actual vote, House Republican leaders employed a procedural maneuver to kill the underlying measure and even moved the time of the vote to prevent grass-roots mobilization.

In May, a full-blown lobbying blitz by the AFT and the labor movement helped secure a bipartisan majority vote in the U.S. Senate to bar the Labor Department from stripping overtime protections from millions of American workers. The AFT, along with the rest of the AFL-CIO, will continue to pressure the House for a vote to support overtime rights for U.S. workers and to stop this harmful Bush administration rule from taking effect in August.

Connecticut bans mandatory overtime

Three years ago, AFT Connecticut and its healthcare locals mounted a campaign to end mandatory overtime in the state. In May, their aggressive lobbying paid off. State lawmakers voted to ban mandatory overtime, handing healthcare professionals and their patients a great victory. The new measure prevents hospitals from forcing nurses to stay hours after their scheduled shift, a practice which can threaten the safety of patients.

Over the years, hospitals in Connecticut have used mandatory overtime as a staffing tool, says Joanne Chapin, a member of the New Milford (Conn.) Federation of Registered Nurses and the AFT Connecticut executive committee. “Our goal was to stop the practice.”

Under the bill, hospitals no longer can require registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and nurses’ aides to continue working beyond shifts that have been scheduled 48 hours in advance. It allows healthcare workers to volunteer to work additional hours, but prevents dismissal, discrimination, discharge or any other penalty if the overtime is refused. Like other state bans on mandatory overtime, the measure does not apply during public health emergencies. It also does not apply for nurses participating in surgery until the surgery is completed; nurses working in a critical care unit unless another employee relieves them; or nurses covered by a collective bargaining agreement that already addresses the issue.

The bill passed 129 to 17 in the House, and 35 to 0 in the Senate. It awaits the governor’s signature and is to take effect in October 2005.

Safe staffing bill introduced

Adequate staffing has become the top issue for millions of nurses around the country. So it was fitting that Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D-Ill.) used National Nurses Day, May 6, to introduce federal legislation that sets mandatory nurse-to-patient staffing standards to protect patients in healthcare facilities.

The Nurse Staffing Standards for Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2004 (H.R. 4316) would establish minimum nurse-to-patient ratios in direct care. It’s the key to reducing nurses’ excessive workloads and improving patient outcomes.

“Nurses are stretched beyond the limits of safe and quality healthcare. We’ve got to set limits to save lives,” says Candice Owley, chair of AFT Healthcare’s program and policy council and an AFT vice president. “This is a safety issue that should not be considered controversial. Patients’ lives are at stake.”

Nurses from AFT Healthcare and other AFL-CIO unions have worked closely with Schakowsky to craft the measure, which would require hospitals to consult with staff in developing staffing plans. Under the bill, such plans would have to be in place by January 2006. The legislation has 26 House co-sponsors.

New Illinois law expands practice for dental hygienists

When the Illinois Dental Hygienists Association (IDHA) affiliated with the AFT’s state federation, the groups were determined to dismantle a state law requiring hygienists to work only under the direct supervision of a dentist in a dental office. That was in 2002. In May, their determination paid off.

A new law allowing for general supervision of dental hygienists was negotiated and enacted with the help of the Illinois Federation of Teachers/

AFT. The measure is a major step forward when it comes to increasing access to oral healthcare in Illinois, says the IDHA, which represents more than 1,100 dental hygienists statewide.

The law will get hygienists into schools, nursing homes, prisons and other alternative practice settings, says Becky Grill, the government relations liaison for the association. The IDHA has been fighting to bring back general supervision since 1985, when it was removed from the state practice act.

“If it wasn’t for our unionization, organized dentistry would still be skirting the issue,” Grill says. “We forced their hand.”

Now the IDHA, with the help of the union, has firmer ground on which to lobby for members’ and patients’ best interests, says Grill. “We have a great new beginning for the profession of dental hygiene and thousands of underserved populations here in Illinois. It is our goal to see that everyone seeking oral healthcare receives it.”

Vermont passes whistleblower bill

Vermont lawmakers have passed whistleblower protection for hospital employees. The measure, strongly supported by the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, will protect the more than 31,000 healthcare workers in administrative, clinical and supporting roles throughout the state.

The bill prevents hospitals or nursing homes from taking retaliatory action against any employee if the employee: discloses or threatens to disclose any activity, policy, practice, procedure, action or failure to act of the employer or agent of the employer that the employee reasonably believes is a violation of any law or that the employee reasonably believes constitutes improper quality of patient care. The bill awaits the governor’s signature.