By Richard Mellor
From the socialist website Facts for Working People, this report of a campaign to reinstate a union representative supporting nurses fighting for PPE:
During the opening months of the COVID 19 pandemic, frontline healthcare workers at St Paul’s [Minnesota] United Hospital began to take measures to protect themselves, their families and the public they serve. The efforts were opposed by management, who among other positions they took, also insisted workers use their personal scrubs instead of the scrubs available at the hospital used by doctors, physician assistants and some nurses.
This meant that nurses would have to bring the scrubs they worked in all day home to be washed, adding a potential source of infection to their families. Dozens of nurses refused to do this. Management responded with disciplinary measures, violation of union rights, and intimidation of the frontline workforce. Cliff Willmeng, a union steward, husband, father of two, and nurse of 13 years, was fired during these efforts for workplace and patient safety.
Grievance over termination
These battles played out in local and national media. Cliff’s termination is the subject of a union grievance set to go to arbitration on January 7th and 8th of 2021 and a whistle-blower lawsuit against Allina Health, the parent company of United Hospital.
Below is the text of a petition I hope you will sign and share with your contacts. The petition is at this link. The link below will also take you to a page with more information. Despite having no patient care or attendance issues, Cliff has also been reported to the Minnesota Board of Nursing, a development that potentially threatens his RN license and which requires him to hire legal council now at the cost of $250/hour.
You can also donate to Cliff Willmeng’s legal defence through a go-fund me page fund which you can find here. If you belong to a union, a church group, a DSA Chapter or any social organization at all, get your organization to support Cliff’s campaign to get his job back. Since his termination, Cliff was elected to the Minnesota Nurses Association’s Board of Directors. The president of the Minnesota Nurses Association is Mary Turner and she can be contacted at: Mary.Turner@mnnurses.org
During the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, nurses and other frontline workers fought for patient and workplace safety at Allina Health’s United Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota. United responded by firing RN and union steward Cliff Willmeng, provoking a whistle-blower lawsuit and union arbitration that is set to be heard. Help bring Cliff back to his job at United and defend frontline workers everywhere!
Petition:
We the undersigned call on the Allina Health’s CEO Penny Wheeler, its Board of Directors, and United Hospital management to immediately reinstate Cliff Willmeng to his position in the emergency room of United Hospital. We further call for an end to the intimidation of and retaliation against frontline workers risking their health and their lives during a deadly pandemic.
Thank you in advance for your support
Richard Mellor, for Facts For Working People
