National Nurses United

More than 1 million infected in the United States APRIL 28 CNA/NNU/NNOC issues statement cautioning that calls to reopen are premature APRIL 28 A P R I L | M AY | J U N E 2 0 2 0 W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G N A T I O N A L N U R S E 27 information about challenges Canadian and American nurses are facing during COVID-19, NNU President Zenei Cortez, RN, joined Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) President Linda Silas, RN on her weekly Facebook Live during Nurses' Week. "We are always united in our struggles but never more so than now," said Cortez, advising that Canada should remain vigilant in fighting the "blatant and creeping privatization" that already defines America's health care system. "The United States is so far behind that we don't even know what we don't know," Cortez continued, emphasizing that America is lag- ging in all testing, including testing health care workers, has no comprehensive contact tracing in place, has few or no surge plans nor capacity, and is allowing a shockingly high percentage of health care workers to get infected by not providing enough PPE. Silas shared some successes in Canada, including a guidance from the Ontario Ministry of Health early on in COVID-19, saying airborne precautions must be used with COVID-19 patients. "They learned from SARS in 2003 you have to use the precau- tionary principle," said Silas. After pressure from federal and inter- national governments, Silas explained that Ontario "watered down" their protections, and the Ontario Nurses Association had to fight for a statement between employers and the local government agreeing that if a health care worker does a point-of-care risk assessment and determines airborne protections are needed, the worker will get those protections. Several other provinces followed suit with similar statements. So while Canada's public health system had some protections that nurses in the United States didn't have (no nurses in Canada had died of COVID-19 at the time of the Facebook Live, although one died after the Facebook Live), Silas emphasized that nurses in Canada were also being asked to reuse PPE. And long-term care in Canada has seen the most problems in the COVID-19 era, said Silas. "In Canada, the only area [that is] monetized is in long-term care because it is not a part of our Canada Health Act," said Silas, explaining that privatization in long-term care makes that area of health care prone to putting profits over seniors and employees during COVID-19. "So we are demanding, including our Canadian Labor Congress, to reexamine how we deliver care to seniors." UNISON video call unison, the largest public-sector union and the second-largest nurses union in the United Kingdom, held a video call on May 12, International Nurses Day, bringing together UNISON, National Nurses United, and the Democratic Nursing Organization of South Africa, to speak to an audience of nurses, health care workers, and other public- sector workers from around the world. NNU President Jean Ross, RN, emphasized on the call that nurs- es are being threatened like never before at a time when nurses were supposed to be honored like never before. "The profound and cruel irony is the World Health Organization designated 2020 to be the International Year of the Nurse and Mid- wife," said Ross. "Yet national governments and local governments have failed us; there's been a complete void of leadership. You know who's filled that void? Nurses." NNU President Deborah Burger, RN spoke about the social con- ditions in the United States that amplified the impact of COVID-19. "Our private health insurance system is a colossal failure," Burger said. "The government, hospitals, and health care employers knew what supplies needed to be on hand for an infectious disease. But they didn't want to pay for it." Mavis Mulaudzi, first deputy president of Democratic Nursing Organization of South Africa (DENOSA), encouraged nurses and health care workers around the world to join hands in the fight "because our challenges are the same." Mulaudzi explained that South Africa was the hardest hit country in Africa, and nurses fought hard for protections. "The first thing we raised our voices for was adequate PPE. We made a lot of noise," said Mulaudzi. "The government then started to include us in decision-making, and we began to tell them our challenges." Of course, union leaders emphasized, things were not easy, even before COVID-19. Chris Jacobson, UNISON East Midlands regional secretary, pointed out that a return to "normal" is out of the question. "Our leaders are all too quick to evoke the language of war in this pandemic," said Jacobson. "They tell us this is the new age of sacrifice and resilience and a collective endeavor…As working people did at the end of the second world war, we have to demand a better future." "International solidarity is civilization's only way forward," echoed NNU President Zenei Cortez, RN. Kari Jones is a communications specialist with National Nurses United. ARITY

• Cover