National Nurses United

premiere of a new play, "That Kindness," by V (formerly known as Eve Ensler), based on stories from and interviews with CNA/ NNOC/NNU nurses, and featuring actors from Billie Porter to Rosie O'Donnell. The next evening, nurses were treated to a production of "The People Speak," featuring letters, speeches, and other words from changemakers throughout history. This year the works were read by artists such as Lily Tomlin, Kendrick Sampson, and Staceyann Chin. And original artwork of nurses fighting for personal protective equipment by noted national artists such as Melanie Cervantes and Innosanto Nagara provided a stunning visual backdrop for the convention. The main conference program concluded with a vigil in honor of the more than 200 registered nurses nationwide, 11 of them members of National Nurses United, who lost their lives on the front lines of Covid-19. "Our convention is a time when nurses across the country come together to feel uplifted," said CNA/NNOC/NNU Executive Direc- tor Bonnie Castillo, RN. "This year, we have the added calling to support one another through our grief after losing our colleagues not just to Covid-19, but to a complete and utter disregard for nurses' lives." Through tears, we remembered our sisters, brothers, and siblings, and we committed to standing together stronger than ever before, across the country and around the globe, to fight for a world where essential workers are treated as just that: essential. "We shouldn't just celebrate nurses when we do something great," our global colleague, Kerri Nuku, director of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, emphasized. "We will rise up whenever the demand calls, but it shouldn't take a crisis to recognize the role of nurses." Kari Jones is a communications specialist for National Nurses United. Defending Our Rights to Collective Action Decades-long attacks on unions and workers' rights have accelerated under the Trump administration's policies, in collaboration with corpo- rate interests, and right-wing federal and state legislators and courts, the delegates noted. CNA/NNOC pledged to continue to mobilize RNs, with labor and community allies, to oppose legislative and judicial assaults, such as anti-union "right to work" laws, and "emergency" measures proposed to override years of workplace protections and standards for RNs and other workers. CNA/NNOC also pledged to "redouble our efforts to organize nonunion RNs … to protect them- selves, their patients, and their practice." Health Care Justice in the Era of COVID-19 CNA/NNOC noted that the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed "the massive shortcomings of our fragmented, profit-based" health care system. The lack of a national system has greatly contributed to the "onerous challenges for mounting a coordinated and effective pan- demic response," the resolution stated. Union delegates pledged to win national and state-based Medicare for All reform "through a reg- istered nurse-led mobilization," in coalition with labor and community allies. Promoting Racial Justice and Eradicating Racial Disparities The resolution on racial justice endorsed "systemic changes in policing practices from stronger deescalation methods to limit use of lethal force, ending racial profiling, and greater independent public oversight and accountability" and "an end to the use of militarized force and weapons of war on people protesting racial injustice." It also called for "reversing the excessive increase in public spending on policing and prisons to reinvest" in public health, mental health services, public education, job and at-risk youth programs, and other social services; and an end to racist immigration policies. The resolu- tion also endorsed reparations for Black Americans, affirmative action programs, full restoration of the Voting Rights Act, voting rights for the formerly incarcerated, statehood for the District of Columbia, and tar- geted economic programs to address the disproportionate racial impact of Covid-19. Promoting Gender Equity and Discrimination-Free Workplaces Delegates noted that the 19th Amendment left Black and other women of color disenfranchised due to discriminatory laws and practices. They pledged to work on increasing the voting rights of women of color as well as political representation for pro-labor women and candidates who advance feminist policies in political office and in leadership roles in unions and other venues. The delegates resolved to work to reverse restrictions on women's health services, the Trump administration's push to rescind the Affordable Care Act, and cuts in nutrition programs, while pushing for nondiscrimination health rights for transgender patients. Further, the delegates called for an end to gender pay disparities, while supporting full benefits to increase women's autonomy as well as policies to end all forms of gender-based discrimination and violence. The Crisis in Care and Securing Registered Nursing Practice to Protect Patients CNA/NNOC delegates resolved to "vigorously oppose" an escalating corporate attack on patient care and nursing practice standards, including the use of technology to displace RN professional practice, and attempts to "degrade RN staffing standards under the pretense of the Covid-19 crisis." They pledged to challenge employer harassment and retaliation against RNs who advocate for patients against the health care industry's market-driven agenda, and to work collectively "in our facilities and communities to protect our patients and the pub- lic's health, locally and globally, in accordance with our organization values of caring, compassion, commitment, and courage." 26 N A T I O N A L N U R S E 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 J U LY | A U G U S T | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 0 Resolved As America faces a tsunami of crises, the urgency of the moment was reflected in five expansive resolutions adopted by more than 500 convention delegates on the final day of the convention. "When there's nurse unity, there's power." —CNA/NNOC board member Marissa Lee, RN

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