HR

A security breach in an online scheduling application affected more than 4,000 employees at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo.

Service Employees International Union 1199NW has reached contract agreements with Valley Hospital in Spokane Valley, Wash., and Deaconess Hospital in Spokane, Wash., according to a report by The Spokesman-Review.

The California Nurses Association/National Nurses United has planned coinciding strikes on Thursday at three hospitals in the state: Sutter Tracy (Calif.) Community Hospital, Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa Valley and Watsonville (Calif.) Community Hospital.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center $78,000 after finding the hospital did not protect its workers from falling equipment and violent patients, according to a New York Daily News report.

The Montana Nurses Association has recommended that its members at Billings (Mont.) Clinic do not approve the current contract offer, according to a report in the Billings Gazette.

The National Labor Relations Board has unanimously ratified all actions taken by the board from Jan. 4, 2012 to Aug. 5, 2013, which were taken by board members who were not validly appointed.

The following is a roundup of recent events pertaining to hospital-union relationships, including strikes, rallies and new contract agreements. All events were reported since the middle of June, starting with the most recent.

Union nurses from Worcester, Mass.-UMass Memorial Health Care have sent a letter to administrators protesting staffing cuts that they call "degrading" to the quality of care provided in the system's facilities.

Hospitals lost 7,100 jobs last month, the first time they have posted an employment loss since February, according to the most recent jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

About 30 people were arrested after participating in a union-organized rally outside of UPMC's headquarters in Pittsburgh Wednesday.