2022 Negotiations

Welcome! This page will have updates related to contract negotiations, information about who is on your negotiations team, and what nurses have said are important priorities. The quickest ways to get information will remain text messages, in person conversations with your peers, and email.

***5/23 RATIFICATION UPDATE***

Dear OSUNO Members,

On May 20^th, less than 24 hours after our members actively demonstrated the need for real recruitment and retention efforts from the medical center, including competitive pay, we reached a tentative agreement with OSU. The next step of the process is a ratification vote with members. Copies of the tentative agreement including wage charts will be available at ratification for review prior to voting. Voting will be held in person, times/locations on the below flier.

The OSUNO Bargaining Committee recommends a “yes” vote on this agreement. Below is a 2-page summary of changes you’ll be voting on during ratification. The OSUNO Bargaining Committee will be hosting an all-member meeting via Zoom on 5/24 from 2-3p to review the changes and the ratification process. Use this link to join the meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88309552061

I’m proud of our members and their push that ultimately made OSU do the right thing. There is power when nurses come together, and our union is proof. #SaferStrongerTogether

In unity,
Rick Lucas
OSUNO President

5/20/2022:

Dear OSUNO / ONA Member,

Late Friday afternoon, OSU’s well-compensated outside law firm sent our union this letter. They took issue with our communication to our members about negotiations, demanding the message be retracted.

After careful review, we stand by our communications. We will not be threatened or intimidated for standing up for each other, especially during Nurse’s Week. We will not alter or retract the truth, just because OSU doesn’t like it. And we will not stop telling OSU to invest in nurses, even if they don’t want to hear it. Frankly, it is shameful OSU chooses to spend their time and money trying to silence and control us rather than listen to us.

On April 28, when around 100 nurses showed up to negotiations and to deliver a letter to OSU President Kristina Johnson, many nurses stayed and shared their experiences at the bedside with the OSU bargaining team. Some of us were on the verge of tears recounting how difficult the last few years have been. OSU called that “grandstanding and vitriol.”

Over the past two years OSU has turned down every opportunity to discuss recruitment/retention strategies, citing bargaining as the only time for these conversations. Now we’re in bargaining, and OSU continues to downplay the seriousness of the crisis we are facing. It is clear they are trying to conduct business as usual while we’re doing the real work to keep our hospital going.

We can’t settle a contract until we get what’s needed to safely staff our hospital. Here are some of the main disagreements:

Insufficient wage increases in each year of the agreement, especially for experienced nurses
Refusing to extend TSIP even though we all know staffing won’t be fixed by July 1
Refusing to increase in the moment incentive pay or prioritize using incentive pay before hiring travelers

Our bargaining team is ready to finish negotiations as soon as OSU decides to get serious and listen to nurses!

In Unity,

Rick Lucas BSN RN OCN VA-BC CCRN

President, OSUNO

4/22 UPDATE: We are disappointed that OSU continues to refuse to recognize what we are worth! After hearing from members, the bargaining team has developed the below plan to escalate pressure on OSU to do the right thing, INVEST IN NURSES!!!

We are asking everyone to email Mark Larmore, Andy Thomas, and Kristina Johnson an invitation to come out of the shadows and meet with nurses at the bargaining table. Here are their email addresses and an invitation you can copy and paste into your email:
larmore.6@osu.edu
Andrew.Thomas@osumc.edu
president@osu.edu

Dear Mark Larmore, Andy Thomas, and Kristina Johnson,

We risked our lives and saved others’ and continue to do so. We adapted, put on brave faces and proved our resiliency without fail. It’s been a tough couple of years, but it’s even tougher to hear that OSU does not want to recognize any of it. We invite you to come to the Ohio Union on Tuesdays and Thursdays to meet face to face with our OSUNO/ONA Negotiating Team.

Our hope is that you will recognize the amazing work of our Buckeye Nursing Team through these remarkable times. We ask that you work with the Board of Trustees to do the right thing. Nursing needs a meaningful wage increase for all and a comprehensive recruitment and retention plan. An investment in nursing is an investment in safe patient care. That’s Buckeye leadership. That’s #TogetherasBuckeyes.

Sincerely,

We also invite our members to join us at the Ohio Union for negotiations at 10am on Tuesdays/Thursdays. Here's the room schedule for this week:

Tuesday	April	26	2022	ONA - 2120 Ohio Staters tradition
Thursday	April	28	2022	ONA - 3020C interfaith

April 14 was frustrating. OSU was very clear to us in their wage proposal counter that they do NOT plan to invest in retention efforts for our staff. If everyone remembers during the pandemic, our colleagues got no raise during 2020, nursing did because our contract protected that increase. OSU "isn't in the ballpark with this offer" and "we need them to meet us where they can."

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Meet Your Bargaining Team!

Bargaining Team Member	Experience	Home Unit
Rick Lucas BSN RN OCN VA-BC CCRN		UH STAT
Amy Pompeii RN-BC	25 years experience in UH M/S Float Pool	UH Float M/S
Janet Corbin BSN RN CCRN	29 Years of experience, 21 in UH SICU	UH SICU
Elizabeth DiGiannantoni BSN RN OCN CCRN	15 years experience James STAT & Inpatient Float Pool	James Inpatient Float Pool
Tony Myers RN CCRN		Endoscopy
Jessie Frymyer BSN RN CNOR	24 Years of experience, 4 M/S, 20 UH OR	UH OR
Bret Apple II MS RN CNL CNOR	11 Years of experience	UH OR
Angela Rentel BSN RN	4 years experience in UH M/S Float Pool & Postpartum	Postpartum
Lukas Killian BSN RN	4 years experience, 3 in UH M/S Float Pool, 1 pediatric ICU	9 West Rhodes
Brian Kelly BSN RN RN-BC	10 years experience in UH M/S Float Pool	UH M/S Float Pool
January Belcher RN-BC	20 years experience, 15 in UH M/S	9 East Rhodes
Alex Watts BSN RN PCCN	6 years experience in UH PCU Float Pool	UH PCU Float Pool
Holly Smith BSN RN OCN	29 years of experience, 10 years ICU, 9 years James ambulatory	James Ambulatory Float Pool
Regina Miller BA BSN RN	18 years of experience, 10 years in UH ED, currently UH PACU representing emergency services	UH PACU
Peg Ripley BSN RN CCRN	34 years of experience in OSU CVICU/Ross	Ross
Alternates
Holly Rowe BSN RN CCRN		UH STAT
Christine Frank-Scott BSN JD RN CCRN		UH SICU
Steve Bultema BSN RN MHA		James OR
Sarabeth Murray BSN, RN	5 Years of experience in UH M/S Float Pool	UH M/S Float Pool
Catharyne Henderson BSN RN RN-BC	8 years experience in James PCU	12 James