President’s Message
United Nurses & Allied Professionals
Roger Williams Medical Center
UNAP Local 5092
Lynn Redding, RN
President
May 3, 2022
To My Fellow Union Members,
Yes, let me repeat that, UNION MEMBERS!! Congratulations for being the first Members of Roger Williams Medical Center Local 5092.
This was no simple feat. We began organizing in July of 2021, and as support grew, and more and more of you were willing to step up and sign those cards, we were able to have the Vote we deserved. With all of the mandatory meetings, dis-information, mis-information thrown at us, we ended up with an outstanding showing of mail in votes. 2:1!
And after our well-deserved victory lap, we need to get to work. We still need to fill two VP positions: VP of ICU, CCU, Case Managers, and Cardiac Stress, VP of Medical Surgical (3rd Floor and 4th floor), and Floats. If you know of anyone interested in representing these groups, please contact anyone on the Executive board and we will get working on it. We also need to fill an Executive Board position of Secretary. Again, if you know of anyone you feel would be ready to serve, please let us know.
Let me say, these have been a couple of really trying years for nursing. We are tired. But as we start working on our first contract we can’t slow down now. We need to make sure we fill out our surveys and return them to UNAP. From these surveys our attorney will craft a contract that will acknowledge not only what you feel is vital, but one that finally acknowledges safety, patient care, fair wages, and a benefits package that befits our profession.
My job is to be available to you. I work primarily on Geri Psych. I may be a Psych Nurse, but as your Union President, I represent every nurse at RWMC. Our entire Board represents YOU. To that point, Union Leadership has already met with RWMC management regarding the temporary closure of the Maxi/Step Down unit to ensure our members are protected, not forced to perform work beyond their skills set, and established an understanding that our nurses want and need additional training. We are also meeting with administration regarding the pending departure of the Endoscopy practice, and how this will impact our members. As always, we will provide updates to you.
Your job as members of the Union is to fully embrace that YOU ARE THE UNION. It is not third party, it is not an invisible entity, It is YOU. With that, you have a responsibility to each other, to continue the effort we all put in to organizing and now we will move forward together. One of your most important duties as the Union is: “If you SEE something, SAY something.” Your Executive Board is only effective if we know if there are problems on units including closing a unit, RNs being mandated or being asked to carry too high a patient load. Each unit should have Reps. Until we have a complete complement of Unit Reps, you can reach out to any one of us on the Executive Board. All Officers names and numbers are published on the Union Website.
There are exciting days ahead! Continue to check your Local 5092 page on the UNAP website for news, activities, meetings, and updates. I could not be prouder to be your President, and I hope you know what you have accomplished by creating a Union where there wasn’t one. Here’s to our future!
Lynn Redding, RN
President Local 5092
UNAP.org