The Nurses of Backus Hospital in Norwich, Ct voted last May to join the merican Federation of Teachers. Since then we have negotiated in good faith for our first contract. The Hospital has done nothing but stall. They have spent $11 million on a union busting law firm.

On Thursday, the National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint against the hospital on the denial of wages and bonus, failure to bargain in good faith and illegally interfering with and barring union activity and access rights guaranteed under the law. The trial will be May 14th. The NLRB gave management a chance to settle this without a trial but management refused.

Today we informed management that we intend to hold a rally outside the hospital on March 19, at 4:30 pm. This is a critical time in our negotiations, a time when we need the community's support the most. The rally will be with participation of the entire southeastern Connecticut public and labor community to build support and pressure management to ensure a fair contract.

I urge all nurses to be at negotiations on the March 13, 15, 27, and 29.
I urge all nurses, families and supporters to attend our rally and show management that we will not tolerate their continued violation of our rights and that we stand in solidarity to ensure a just and fair contract.

The rally will be Monday, March 19, 4:30, 326 Washington St, Norwich, CT. Please RSVP for the rally @ Backusunited.com