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4 NNOC/NNU 101 ยป What is NNOC/NNU? MORE THAN 100 YEARS OF RN POWER X 1903 California Nurse Association (CNA) founded: One of the first professional RN organiza- tions in the U.S. X 1905 CNA-sponsored legisla- tion results in the first RN licensure law. X 1945 CNA first in the nation to represent nurses in collective bargaining agreement, negotiating contracts at five Bay Area hospitals that establish the 40-hour work week, vacation and sick leave, health benefits, shift differentials, 15 percent salary increase. X 1966 2,000 CNA RNs stage mass resignation protest and win major gains, including 40 percent pay increase, eight paid holidays, and time-and-a- half for holidays worked. X 1971 CNA contract language requires hospital staffing systems based on patient acuity and nursing care with staff RNs participating in staffing assessments. X 1976 CNA-sponsored regula- tion establishes mandated RN-to-patient ratios in all California hospital ICUs. X 1993 Staff RN majority elected to CNA Board of Directors for the first time in CNA history on a platform pro- moting patient advocacy and challenging unsafe hospital restructuring. X 1995 CNA Convention votes by 92 percent to end ties with the American Nurses Association (ANA). Adopts a program to reallocate resources to organize RNs, strengthen contracts, confront hospital industry attack on RN jobs and enact legislative and workplace protections. X 1996 CNA wins important changes in state law (Title 22) that licenses and certifies hospitals, strengthening RNs' ability to advocate for patients. Provisions include staff RN participation on com- mittee to review patient classification systems, floating protections, and requirement that every patient be assessed by an RN at least once a shift. X 1999 First-in-the-nation law passed in California, sponsored by CNA, mandating minimum RN-to-patient ratios for all hospital units. CNA wins other major legislation, including whistle-blower protection for health care employees. X 2001 CNA wins unprecedented organizing pact with Catholic Healthcare West (CHW). Within one year, CNA wins elections at nine CHW hospitals, significantly increasing membership in mostly unorganized Southern California. X 2005 National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC) is founded by CNA in response to an overwhelming demand by direct-care nurses. RNs at Cook County Health and Hospitals Association vote to join CNA/NNOC. X 2006 Maine State Nurses Association votes to join CNA/NNOC. X 2007 Saint Mary's RNs in Reno, Nevada vote to join CNA/ NNOC, making it the largest RN organization in Catholic hospitals across the U.S. representing direct-care nurses. X 2008 RNs at Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center in Houston vote for CNA/NNOC rep- resentation in a dramatic breakthrough, becoming the first nurses in a private-sector hospital in Texas to win union collec- tive bargaining rights. X 2009 1,300 RNs at three St. Rose Dominican hospitals in Las Vegas, Nev. vote by 76 percent to join CNA/NNOC. CNA/NNOC joins forces with United American Nurses and the Massachusetts Nurses Association, and sets in motion a process for building an RN "super union." The 155,000 RN organization, National Nurses United (NNU), became the largest union and professional associa- tion of RNs in U.S. history with contracts covering nurses in 24 states and individual members in all 50 states.