FORT KENT, Maine – Nurses at Northern Maine Medical Center are voting Wednesday to decide if they will join the Maine State Nurses Association and National Nurses United.
The NMMC nurses’ platform, according to a bulletin from the Maine State Nurses Association and National Nurses United, is for safer staffing and scheduling practices, retention-focused benefits, job protections, and fair and transparent wages that reward years of experience and longevity.
They are also seeking an RN-elected committee to give them an equal say in patient care standards, nurse-led workplace violence prevention, adequate supplies and equipment, and improved differentials for floating shifts, charge, and precepting.
Votes are taking place during three two-hour blocks, from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The election will be conducted by a federal agent from the National Labor Relations Board, and all ballots are secret.
Kris Malmborg, NMMC Director of Marketing and Communications, did not immediately respond to a phone call and email requesting comment.
Maine Senate President Troy Jackson on Jan. 14 wrote a letter of support in favor of the union, urging the hospital administration to respect the nurses’ rights to organize and form a union.
“Throughout my entire lifetime, the nurses at NMMC have put in long hours and made sacrifices to get our community through our most difficult moments,” he wrote. “The work you are doing now by banding together to stand up for what is right will ensure that nurses at NMMC are able to continue to provide quality and compassionate care to northern Maine families for years to come. Improving staff recruitment and retention, working conditions and communication will only benefit patients in the end.”
