Press

Dane County (Wisconsin) Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi struck down the Wisconsin law that eliminated most public employee collective bargaining, ruling lawmakers violated the state's open records and open meeting laws.

WASHINGTON--This decision repudiates Gov. Scott Walker's blatant power grab. It demonstrates yet again that Wisconsin's Republican lawmakers used indefensible tactics when they pushed through controversial anti-democratic and anti-worker legislation in the dead of night without any deference to public input or transparency.

AFT President, Randi Weingarten, issued a statement today stating: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and state Senate Republicans last night trampled the democratic process and blatantly disregarded the public will. In an apparent violation of the state’s open meeting laws, the Republican state senators have revealed themselves as people who will say or do anything, and use any tactic necessary, to pass their extreme agenda that attacks working families who are already struggling. Their actions are both reprehensible and cowardly. Read the full statement...

On April 29th, WFNHP president, Candice Owley, issued a statement in support of the call for an audit by State and County legislators for additional audits and investigation of the care at the Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Complex.

For nearly 20 years, unionists in Wisconsin have been trying to make the teaching of labor history in the schools a reality. Finally, a state law which would make that happen passed. On Tuesday, October 27, the State Senate passed AB172, which calls for the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to include the history of organized labor and the collective bargaining process in the state's model academic standards for our schools.

Today the Wisconsin State Senate Health Committee took a giant step forward to protect Wisconsin patients. The committee, chaired by Senator Jon Erpenbach, voted to approve SB 108, the bill to ban mandatory overtime for nurses and healthcare workers. Read the press release...

A joint document that offers guidelines for labor organizing in Catholic hospitals, was released June 22nd by the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB). This marks an unprecedented and giant step forward in positive labor-management relations and creates a fair and balanced process for workers to choose whether or not to form a union; according to the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (WFNHP).

WFNHP issues press release in response to Wisconsin Hospital Association's statement that they do not believe mandatory overtime is appropriate or a frequently used staffing strategy; however, in order to protect patients must remain an option.

From the Business Journal, February 27, 2009--Wisconsin nurses are trying for a fifth time to get state legislation passed that would ban the long-standing practice of mandatory overtime.

Legislation to ban mandatory overtime for Wisconsin nurses and healthcare workers was announced Tuesday, February 24th, at a press conference at the Capitol. Mandatory overtime is unsafe for patients and is driving nurses out of the profession, further worsening the nursing shortage.

WFNHP held a press conference preceding the annual Nurses Day celebration in Milwaukee to release survey results from over 1,500 Milwaukee-area nurses.  The survey was conducted during the month of April 2008.