(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) - Nearly a year after voting to opt-in to New York’s Nation-leading Paid Family Leave (PFL) Program, New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA)-represented Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) Nurses are still fighting for Hospital Management to implement the benefit.

New York’s PFL Program - which was signed into law in 2016 and enacted on January 1st, 2018 - provides eligible Workers with up to 12 weeks of paid, job-protected leave to care for a new child or Family Member with a serious health condition, or to assist when a Family Member is on overseas military deployment.  

While the law that implemented the benefit makes it mandatory for private employers, the same courtesy is not extended to Public Sector Workers, who must petition their employer for the benefit and then vote to opt-in.

At ECMC, this process has proven more difficult than the law lays out.

While Nurses voted overwhelmingly to opt-in to the program, Hospital Management has drawn out the process, leaving Nurses without PFL, Union Officials said. 

Last May, NYSNA Nurses at ECMC successfully got Hospital Management to agree to offer PFL.

After winning this agreement from management, Nurses informed their fellow Members about the program and their ability to vote to opt-in.

Nurses spoke about the critical need for the program and the peace of mind it would offer to their colleagues looking to start new families or caring for elderly loved ones.

After a weeks-long campaign to educate Members, the vast majority of Union Nurses voted to opt-in to the PFL program.

Kate Panicali, a NYSNA Member at ECMC, said: “In a profession where we give ourselves to caring for others, Nurses should have the ability to care for our loved ones when we need to - without worrying about our bills being paid, keeping food on the table or losing our jobs.”

But despite their successful vote, Nurses at ECMC are still without PFL.

While management initially agreed to provide the benefit, ECMC has since gone back on their commitment, citing financial uncertainty stemming from the cuts to Federal health care funding and the cost associated with administering the benefit.

Though not unlawful, management’s broken commitment is a serious affront To Public Sector Nurses who voted for PFL and work hard to care for Western New York’s most vulnerable patients, day in and day out.

But ECMC’s Nurses are not giving up.

Earlier this year, they launched an e-mail campaign demanding management follow through on their commitment and provide PFL.

More than 550 NYSNA-represented Nurses participated in the action, sending nearly 1,700 e-mails to Hospital Administrators.

Nurses followed the success of their digital action with in-person meetings to confront management and engage stakeholders.

In mid-April, Nurses brought their demands to a Labor-Management meeting, once again calling for ECMC to provide the benefit they committed to one year ago.

Nurses also delivered copies of the 1,700 e-mails produced in their digital campaign.

At the meeting, NYSNA Western Regional Director and ECMC Registered Nurse John Batson (Pictured Below/WNYLaborToday.com File Photo) said: “This has been a sixteen-month fight for Nurses here at ECMC, but we won’t be deterred. We won’t be denied. And we’ll continue to push forward.  This benefit is the law - it’s not an option. It’s applied to every Nurse at every Private Health Care Facility in Western New York. If they can manage it, ECMC can manage it as well.”

Later in April, Nurses held a briefing for Elected Officials to update them on the campaign to implement PFL at ECMC.

The briefing was attended by New York State Assembly Member Jon Rivera and representatives from the offices of New York State Senator April Baskin, New York State Assembly Majority Leader Crystal People-Stokes and the Erie County Legislature.

Representatives from the Western New York Area Labor Federation also attended.

In the meantime, ECMC Nurses are continuing the fight for management to follow through on their commitment and grant Nurses' access to this life-changing program.

ECMC Nurses “work hard, day in and day out, to care for patients from all over Western New York (and) deserve paid leave to care for their own families when they need it the most,” Union Officials said.

NYSNA Editor’s Note: You can show your support for ECMC Nurses by signing the petition and demanding Hospital Management make good on their word and implement Paid Family Leave here: Erie County Medical Center Nurses Deserve Paid Family Leave! | New York State Nurses Association

Photo Of ECMC Nurses Provided By NYSNA.