Jason Villarruel at People’s World reports from Ithaca that on a frigid December morning a week before Christmas, Cayuga United - a Nurses’ Union at Cayuga Medical Center, held a rally on the front steps of the Ithaca Town Hall. Angela Grupe, a Nurse employed at CMC, spoke to the crowd of community supporters, saying: “So, we’ve all seen it before: The abusive relationship where one person has all the control. One person gets to make all the decisions. One person takes advantage of the other to benefit themselves. And when the abused finally tries to advocate for themselves, the abuser uses threats, lies and manipulation to get their way. The abuser we speak of is the management at Cayuga Medical Center.” The rally came less than a month after Nurses at the Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca announced they had formed a Union - Cayuga United Local 1111 of the Communication Workers of America (CWA). CWA is a major Health Care Union representing more than 15,000 Workers across their Northeastern District (District 1), including Workers at the nearby Arnot Ogden Medical Center in Elmira, which recently merged with the Cayuga Medical Center to form Centralus Health. Reasons for Unionization include chronic understaffing, high turnover, burnout, loss of pensions, price increases in health insurance, dangerous Nurse-to-patient ratios, persistent supply shortages, the need for a cost-of-living wage increase, and a desire to have Democracy in the workplace.

To Continue Reading This Labor News Story, Go To: Nurses in Ithaca fight union-busting ahead of NLRB election – People's World

Photo Courtesy Of CWA District 1’s Facebook Page.