News from AFT Nurses and Health Professionals Archive

Nurses and health professionals at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London, Conn., held an informational picket outside the acute care facility on Aug. 24 to protest patient safety concerns at the hospital and stalled contract negotiations. Workers described unsafe staffing conditions, inadequate wages and worker burnout, all of which they say have had an impact on the hospital's quality of care. Lawrence + Memorial is owned by Yale New Haven Health, and it has been in talks with three union locals for about a year, including AFT Connecticut, which represents nurses, paramedics, technicians and support staff.

 

Protecting our elections isn’t a new fight for us, but as the midterm elections approach, the stakes couldn’t be higher. That’s why our union has launched the AFTvotes Democracy Defenders program. Defending democracy starts right at home. We are building a nationwide network of thousands of volunteers to help safeguard our elections at the local level. Whether it’s clearing up confusion about voting rules or making sure polling locations run smoothly, we are taking action to ensure that every eligible vote counts. Use and share this valuable resource.

 

The AFT has kicked off a nationwide campaign urging people to shop at retailers other than Target for their school supplies and connecting them to local stores and outlets that respect labor rights. The campaign was created in response to Target’s refusal to condemn the unlawful Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity that continues to roil communities around the country. AFT President Randi Weingarten said of the campaign: “We wrote letters, passed resolutions and reached out to [Target] management in good faith but have yet to see any meaningful movement.” Learn more and share at ShopSmart.AFT.org.

 

Under the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals’ signature red tent at a Juneteenth celebration in Portland, children sifted through stacks of free books while nurses offered blood pressure screenings. For members of OFNHP, an affiliate of the AFT, the giveaway was more than outreach—it was a part of addressing a much larger problem: falling literacy rates and waning attention spans.

 

This month, a coalition of unions representing hundreds of thousands of public service and healthcare workers filed a lawsuit challenging the Department of Education's new Reimagining and Improving Student Education rule. The law severely limits federal student loans for graduate school in some of our nation's most vital and understaffed professions. It excludes many professional workers from its higher caps for “professional” students. This will affect degrees in advanced practice nursing, public health, social work, library sciences, and others by deeming them “non-professional.” The designation will reduce federal student loan support, exacerbating the staffing crisis in public service professions.

Medical bills, student loans and credit cards are pushing too many working families to the brink. That’s why the AFT is hosting Affordability Clinics as part of our Fight for Affordability campaign.Join the next free virtual events to learn about ways to understand and manage student debt (Sept. 8) and credit reporting (Sept.16).