National Nurses United

A P R I L | M AY | J U N E 2 0 2 2 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 17 T his june, i had the honor of presenting two critical and timely resolutions at the annual AFL-CIO convention in Philadelphia, both of which were unanimously approved. The national AFL-CIO is the U.S. labor movement's largest and most influential institution, and its support and leadership on the most pressing issues facing us nurses and all workers are key to winning the changes that will improve our lives. The first resolution, committing the AFL to winning gender justice, could not have come at a better time, as we now grapple with the turmoil and fallout from the U.S. Supreme Court's recent rollback of nearly 50 years of reproductive rights through its overturn of Roe v. Wade. I was closely involved with the drafting of this resolution, and as a registered nurse and executive director of a union representing a profession made up predominantly of women, the goals outlined in the document lay the foun- dation of an equitable and just society. This resolution, which will help guide the AFL-CIO's work and policy, has truly become a matter of life and death. Across the country, state and local legis- latures are trying to codify some of the most extreme limits on voting rights, gender- affirming health care, and reproductive health services in generations. We know that these assaults will only further marginalize women and gender- oppressed people who are most vulnerable to economic insecurity, discrimination, and violence; destabilize entire communities; and threaten workers' power on the job. This resolution, for the first time in AFL- CIO history, explicitly states that "all individuals should have quality health care and the right to control their own bodies, including equal access to contraception and reproductive health care, regardless of where they work or live." And, also for the first time, this resolution affirms the rights of transgender workers and sends the unmistakable message that all workers are welcome in our labor movement. This right is especially important in a nation where working women experience significant wage gaps, carry the majority of the caregiving responsibilities, and lack access to childcare and paid leave. Covid-19 only escalated these challenges, leading women to take on double, triple, quadruple shifts fulfilling the roles of teach- ers, nurses, childcare professionals, and domestic workers. By fighting for gender justice, our labor movement builds an economy and a society that respects and protects working people, supports democracy in the workplace and the community, and reinforces that the labor movement is a movement for working women. The second resolution is inextricably linked to the first and of course, as a regis- tered nurse who has been fighting alongside my union for decades to win Medicare for All at both state and federal levels, one I am extremely passionate about. We all knew the United State's so-called health care system is not a system but, instead, a health care market—and a completely failed one at that. Though the AFL-CIO has long been an official supporter of Medicare for All, we felt it was right to strongly recommit the organization to winning this fundamental reform—espe- cially after all the deaths, horrors, and suffering we experienced since the Covid pandemic began. More than a million U.S. residents have died from Covid, and hundreds of thousands more have died from other medical needs our system could not handle under the stress of the pandemic. In addition, tens of thousands of frontline health care workers have died unnecessarily as our pleas for adequate PPE and other crucial workplace protections were ignored and chronic understaffing in our hospitals was compounded by the national emergency. Longstanding inequities in our system have intensified—as the pandemic has fallen heaviest upon Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities, the uninsured and under-insured, and other underserved people. Most of these preventable tragedies are the result of a profit-driven health care system that is more focused on reward- ing health care industry corporate bottom lines than on providing safe, therapeutic patient care or protecting the people who deliver the care. We know the policies for which we must fight to address equity issues, take corporate profits out of our health care system, guar- antee health care for everyone, and provide crucial help to frontline health care workers. And we are committed to fully replacing this profit-driven system with a patient- driven one, as so many other countries have done. We won't give up until our nation guar- antees health care as a basic human right. The election of the first woman president in AFL-CIO history, Liz Shuler, and her focus on organizing the unorganized will also help us all achieve our shared vision and goals. And I am proud to say on behalf of the registered nurse members of NNU, union health care workers are leading the way in creating a society based on care, not corporate profits, through our patient advocacy. Bonnie Castillo, RN is executive director of National Nurses United.` Bonnie Castillo, RN Executive Director, National Nurses United Be it resolved NNU helped pass two crucial pieces of policy on gender and health care justice at the AFL-CIO By fighting for gender justice, our labor movement builds an economy and a society that respects and protects working people, supports democracy in the workplace and the community, and reinforces that the labor movement is a movement for working women.

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