Nurses at Ascension St. Agnes Fight for Safe Staffing in First Contract

BALTIMORE, MD—Registered Nurses (RNs) at Ascension St. Agnes represented by the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU) are more than six months in bargaining after winning a union ratification election in November of last year. In ratifying their union, these nurses became the first RNs to unionize at a private hospital in Baltimore.

Their contract fight has been a similar fight to nurses across the country as Safe Staffing has been a leading demand to go along with the typical fight for livable wages and safe working conditions. We’ve seen this fight over and over again throughout the country as nurses lead the struggle for proper healthcare that healthcare monopolies have consistently denied in search of ever-increasing profits, even at so-called “non-profit” hospitals and medical centers.

The fight for a first contract took a step forward last month at a one-day picket out of the hospital calling on Ascension to agree to Safe Staffing in the deal. In an interview with the Working People Podcast, Nikki Horvat RN at the hospital stated, “Safe staffing is number one pretty much across the country. They maximize their profits by not staffing safely”, she went on to add the importance of Safe Staffing, “we have so much research data that shows that high nurse to patient ratios lead to worse patient outcomes, poorer patient satisfaction, higher nurse burnout, increased risk for medical errors.”

It is also important to remember as a LUEL Mid-Atlantic member stated after we visited striking nurses at RWJ Barnabas in New Jersey last year, “It is our duty as class-oriented trade unionists to rally behind these nurses in their fight for better conditions and fair wages. After all, the cuts in staffing affect the working class more than anyone, as the bosses can afford to shell out extra money to get the best care these nurses are trying to ensure for everyone.”