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4 CNA/NNU 101 » What is CNA/NNU? MORE THAN 100 YEARS OF RN POWER X 1903 CNA founded: One of the first professional RN organizations in the United States. 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 agreements, 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 regulation establishes mandated RN-to-patient ratios in intensive care units in all California hospitals. 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 practice, 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 1997–1998 7,500 CNA Kaiser Permanente RNs wage epic battle with HMO giant to reverse unsafe hospital restructuring and RN layoffs, and to secure crucial patient safety protections. X 1999 California enacts first-in- the-nation law, 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 2002 CNA negotiates contracts with salaries up to $100,000 per year for thousands of RNs. X 2004 RN Safe Staffing Ratios implemented in all California acute-care hospitals. CNA organizes nurse-to- nurse relief assistance with Sri Lanka's Public Services United Nurses Union to assist with tsunami relief efforts. X 2005 CNA goes national in response to an over- whelming demand by direct-care nurses across the U.S. for a national vehicle to address the crisis faced by RNs. 1,800 Cook County, Illinois RNs vote to join the National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC), a new national arm of CNA. CNA embarks on an epic and successful campaign to save RN-to-patient ratios after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger attempts to roll back the law. CNA organizes Katrina relief effort, sending more than 300 RN volunteers to staff 25 health care facilities in Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, including a contingent of 50 RNs to the Houston Astrodome. X 2006 Maine State Nurses Association (MSNA) votes to join CNA/NNOC. CNA/NNOC forms a direct-care nurse disaster relief group, the Registered Nurse Response Network (RNRN). 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 18,000 RNs in 38 Catholic hospitals.