On December 3, the nurses of the Cayuga Medical Center (CMC) announced their unionization in the wake of understaffing, cutback benefits, and the lack of a recent raise. This is not the first time the nurses have organized a union. Back in 2015, two nurses attempted to form a union, but met a union-busting response that resulted in the firing of the two nurses. CMC was subsequently found guilty of illegal measures to prevent unionization.
The nurses of CMC haven’t seen a raise or quality-of-life adjustment since 2023. Due to a mountain of financial concerns, the administration has taken to cutting back the nurses’ benefits, such as reducing the menu for lunches. The ideal nurses-to-patient ratio is 2:3, but CMC purportedly has one nurse managing three patients sometimes—an unsustainable and stressful situation. The hospital has gotten travel nurses to fill the gap, but it isn’t enough. Because of the understaffing, the nurses are at high risk of burnout. The administration has also had to cut service workers and the main campus cafe, beloved by its nurses.
The nurses, affiliated with the national Communications Workers of America (CWA) union, aren’t alone in their endeavor. The Ithaca Teachers Association recently released a statement expressing solidarity with the nurses. Many businesses around Ithaca display Nurses’ Union signs showcasing their solidarity for the union. “We feel very close to our patients, as we might see them after operating in town. It feels very bolstering to have the support of the larger community,” says Elle Williams (BSN, RN).Williams is a member of the organizing committee of the local CWA union.
The nurses have faced extensive opposition in their contract negotiations. The hospital has confronted nurses who wear union badges, spread rumors about the union, and argued that Surgicare nurses should have to form their own union. Furthermore, the hospital has held captive-audience meetings reprimanding nurses for their decision to form a union. The hospital has also held presentations partnering with an anti-union company, LRI Consulting. Featuring heavily skewed data and propaganda, the presentations display all the downsides of unionizing in an effort to keep the nurses from voting for it in the union election. The company is based in Oklahoma and makes millions of dollars a year doing similar presentations in other workplaces.
The nurses are part of the national Communications Workers of America union. “A union generally focuses on specific groups of workers, but it doesn’t have to. The CWA has unionized tens of thousands of nurses across the country, in states such as New York, New Jersey, and New Mexico,” Williams explained. The union does, in fact, unionize Verizon workers and other people in the communication sector nationwide. CWA has unionized 150 thousand healthcare workers nationwide.
The nurses voted on January 14 and 15 on whether they would like to unionize. The union won the election in a landslide with eighty-two percent of the vote; CMC nurses at the main campus have unionized and are now negotiating their contract. The election for Surgicare has yet to happen, and if it succeeds, it will validate the recent wave of elections as a pivot towards a more unionized Ithaca.
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