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Nurses, Docs Unionize by Anita Weier
from the Madison Capital Times August 27
Registered nurses and full-time doctors and dentists at the Veterans
Hospital in Madison have voted to unionize.
The Aug. 22 vote to join the American Federation of Government
Employees was 102 to 47, with 149 of the 265 employees involved voting.
"This was one of the last VA facilities in the country where registered
nurses had not been unionized," said Michael Victorian, a spokesman for
the union in Washington, D.C.
Scott Krueger, a spokesman for the William S. Middleton Veterans
Hospital in Madison, verified that the local hospital was one of the
last two or three nationally where this sector of employees was not
unionized.
"They have voted on it here the last couple of years, and this time it was approved," Krueger said.
Victorian said the vote made it clear that the professional employees at the hospital no longer wanted to be "at will" workers.
"We are proud to welcome these employees into the local union," said
Ian Smith, president of AFGE Local 1732, which represents workers at
the VA facility. "These employees have made a clear choice for union
representation. Together we will work hard to ensure quality workplace
conditions and veterans care."
AFGE has successfully lobbied nationally against VA outsourcing,
excessive mandatory overtime, and chronic budget and staffing cuts,
according to Victorian.
VA facilities are chronically underfunded and understaffed, and there
have been problems implementing nurse and physician pay legislation, he
contended.
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