Nurses at DC’s largest hospital to protest systemic wage theft by hospital management

MedStar Washington Hospital Center nurses call on the D.C. OAG to investigate rampant wage and hour violations in formal complaint

Registered nurses at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, in Washington, D.C., will hold a protest on Thursday, Jan. 15, to announce they have formally filed a complaint with the D.C. Office of the Attorney General (OAG) regarding systemic wage and hour violations, announced National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU) today.

In the complaint, the nurses allege that management falsified pay records, paid nurses the incorrect amount, failed to pay nurses on the correct date, and has let missed paychecks go unpaid for weeks. Additionally, the complaint outlines how management has created a hospital-wide culture that encourages and pressures staff to perform work "off the clock."

"A week before Christmas [on pay day] I did not receive a paycheck at all," said Linda Spring, a registered nurse in the operating room. "It shouldn't be our job to have to demand that we get paid correctly. We should be paid correctly because it is the hospital's legal obligation to pay us correctly. We give our lives to this hospital, to our patients, and we should be compensated appropriately."

Who: RNs at Medstar Washington Hospital Center
What: Protest over wage theft
When: Thursday, Jan. 15, 9-10 a.m
Where: MedStar Washington Hospital Center
Corner of First St. NW and Irving St. NW on the sidewalk outside the hospital gates

"Discovering that management has been altering our timecards to reflect breaks we never took has completely undermined my trust in this hospital," said Ashley Marshall, a registered nurse in the emergency department. "Wages were deducted from my paycheck without my knowledge, and I'm now forced to review every pay stub to ensure nothing else has been altered. Despite its recent Magnet designation, MedStar prioritizes financial considerations over its nurses, the very ones who are providing care to our community.

NNU/NNOC represents more than 2,200 registered nurses at Medstar Washington Hospital Center.

National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with nearly 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.