Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/1446759
What Is NNOC/NNU? » 3 NNOC/NNU 101 » What is NNOC/NNU? A NATIONAL MOVEMENT FOR RNS A STRONG VOICE FOR OUR PROFESSION AND OUR PATIENTS On behalf of the elected RN members of our Board of Directors, welcome to National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC). We are proud to be at the helm of our organization in a period marked by unparalleled growth and tremendous change for our profession and our patients. NNOC was launched by the California Nurses Association (CNA) in 2005 in response to nurses' requests to build a national movement of direct-care RNs, modeled on the success of CNA. NNOC and CNA now represent nearly 130,000 RNs in about 300 facilities throughout the nation, including Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. We are a national union and professional organization for RNs who are pursuing an ambitious agenda of patient advocacy that promotes the interests of patients, direct- care nurses, and RN professional practice. From coast to coast, we have won the best contracts for RNs in the nation. Some 40 years ago, RNs were among the lowest-paid professionals, had no retirement, and worked every weekend. Today, through the collective action of our members, nurses at NNOC facilities have safe staffing conditions, a more secure retirement, and salaries commensurate with experience. Our agreements are noted for enhancing the collective voice of RNs in patient care decisions, achieved through our professional practice committees, Assignment Despite Objection (ADO) documentation system, and improved health and safety protections. We believe that a strong, professional RN union empowers us to take our patient advocacy from the bedside to the statehouse and beyond. We have repeatedly stepped out- side the walls of our facilities to meet our goals, whether it was our 13-year fight to win and defend California's safe staffing ratios or forming the Registered Nurse Response Network (RNRN) to send RN volunteers in the wake of disasters, including the 2010 Haiti earthquake; Hurricanes Katrina, Harvey, Michael, and Dorian; and Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. In 2009, our organization was a major force in bringing state nursing associations across the nation together into one, National Nurses United (NNU). NNU's total membership today stands at more than 175,000 RNs and includes the District of Columbia Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, Southern United Nurses, and Veterans Health Administration RNs. NNU is the largest union and profes- sional association of registered nurses in U.S. history. At last, the nation's RNs have a voice. In the fall of 2019, CNA/NNOC was honored to host the Global Nurses Solidarity Assembly in San Francisco, California, a three-day gathering of more than 1,500 nurses, labor leaders, and representatives from over 25 countries. We shared our experiences in organizing for health justice in our respective nations and explored a range of topics, including racial and environmental justice, workplace democracy and workers' rights, and the fight for humane immigration policy. The establishment of NNU brought to life the dream of a powerful, national movement of direct-care RNs, and that movement is growing in the United States and globally! Since the pandemic began, NNU nurses held thousands of actions during Covid, and we won critical victories in many facilities, on everything from personal protective equipment (PPE) to staffing. We have not just maintained strong membership in the face of right-to-work attacks, thousands of nurses across the country stood up and organized with NNU affiliates during Covid-19. And NNU nurses have been able to win contract language on so many critical health and safety issues — including nurses' right to optimal PPE while caring for Covid-19 patients, the creation of infectious disease task forces that trigger within hours after an infectious disease outbreak, safe staffing, no takeaways on benefits, historic wage increases, and more. We invite RNs to join us to help build an even more powerful voice for RNs and patients. OUR PROGRAM X Improve RN workplace standards through collec- tive bargaining to ensure RNs have compensation that recognizes pro- fessional skills and a retirement that provides dignity for our families after a lifetime of caring for others X Secure passage of state and national legislation for RN staffing ratios and other basic protections for RNs and patients, and meaningful health care reform based on a single standard of care for all X Make direct-care RNs, not administrators, the voice of nursing in Washington, D.C. and state capitals, and the guardians of our practice and profession X Block hospital industry efforts to undermine RN professional practice in legislatures, regulatory agencies, boards of nurs- ing, and at the bedside X Ensure full compliance with the highest safety standards on limiting spread of pandemics, and guaranteeing RN access to proper safety and protective equipment