National Nurses United

"What would you say if I told you that Johns Hopkins—this prestigious, famous, illustri- ous hospital that made $85.4 million dollars last year—is so cheap, that it won't even buy its nurses gloves that don't rip?" Shaneisha McMillan, a registered nurse at Johns Hopkins Hospi- tal in Baltimore, Maryland, punctuated her question by waving a tattered glove in the air. She was addressing more than 1,500 nurse union leaders and allies from 25 countries at the 2019 Global Nurses Solidarity Assembly (GNSA), held in San Francisco Sept. 12–15. Her story of poor working conditions and the Hopkins nurses' fight to unionize ignited the crowd (see page 24). "It was shocking to learn the real face of Johns Hopkins Hospital, because we always thought it was the number one hospital around the globe," said Sun Ja Na, RN, president of the Korean Health and Medical Workers Union (KHMU). "But then we realized it was number one in terms of oppression and the need for change. We could relate because in Korea, the largest hospital is Samsung, and it does not have a union." With inspiration from McMillan's story, Na said she realized, "We need to make more effort to unionize Samsung hospital!" This fire kindled between the Hopkins nurses and the South Korean nurses is just one of countless global connections and galva- nizing moments that happened at the global assembly, filled with panel discussions, educational sessions, revolutionary art and the- ater, and an epic nurses' march for health care justice that shut down the streets of San Francisco. "We nurses have front row seats to the massive inequality and health care needs of our communities," said California Nurses Asso- ciation/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC) President Malinda Markowitz, RN. "But you know what? Nurses are people who get things done and who don't give up. I firmly believe that, collectively, we have the ability to change the world." The Global Nurses Solidarity Assembly was hosted by CNA/NNOC, an affiliate of National Nurses United. In 2013, NNU and its affiliates joined forces with union affiliates from 14 other nations to form Global Nurses United (GNU). Today, GNU encom- passes union affiliates from 28 countries—25 of which were able to send representatives to the global assembly. A number of union leaders from Guatemala, India, Sri Lanka, and Malawi tried to attend but were denied visas by the U.S. State Department.

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