We are the United Steelworkers, North America’s largest industrial union. We’re 1.2 million members and retirees strong in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. We proudly represent men and women who work in nearly every industry there is.
Essentia Health is looking to move most (though not all) of the HUCs from an 8 hour to a 12 schedule. The union requested to bargain over the proposed changes in working conditions. Please attend this meeting to hear an update on how the negotiations have gone, to ask any questions, and to pass on any concerns that you may have. We will be holding four meetings on March 29 to maximize everyone’s opportunity to attend.
Essentia Health is looking to combine the check in and check out roles in the Duluth Clinic buildings. They have already made this change to the Dermatology Department, and they plan to roll it out in phases to the rest of the Clinic departments in the months to come. The union has been in discussion with the company, and is calling this meeting to pass on what we know, to try and answer whatever questions we can, and to hear any concerns that you want passed on to the company.
We are the United Steelworkers, North America’s largest industrial union. We’re 1.2 million members and retirees strong in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. We proudly represent men and women who work in nearly every industry there is. Our members are leaders in your communities, in your work places, in our governments and more. We have a presence in the United Kingdom, Ireland, England, Scotland, Mexico and many other places around the world.
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We believe in better. We stand up and fight back for better. We work for working families around the world.
Nearly a month ago Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) introduced H.R. 1309, "Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act" with the goal of passing a Bill to help lower the incredible rate at which health care and social service workers fall victim to workplace violence. The Bill would make the recommendations OSHA has already released to lower the chance of violence toward workers.
Many of our fellow USW Members work in hospitals, nursing homes, emergency response, and similar workplaces. For them this Bill and the regulations it will enforce can be the difference in how they go home after serving their community. These workers suffer at a rate nearly 12 times that of other sectors, leaving over 600,000 peoples lives changed. Often these incidents are not even the result of the work themselves. Often these incidents could have been completely avoided with implementation of some simple easy to use techniques in de-escalation. These compassionate people care for patients at time of great crisis and with this come a great deal of danger.
It is important to note that this is not the first time a Bill like this has been introduced. This time last year a bill was introduced by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) presented a bill by the same name, with the same goals in mind. It was never brought top a vote due to a lack of support from fellow members. We hope that this time we will get support for this much needed bill to protect our friends and family working in these industries. The bill has 54 co-sponsors at the time of publish, including Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D-IL) and Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL).
