National Nurses United

O C T O B E R | N O V E M B E R | D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 3 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 23 When nurse leaders gathered a decade ago in San Francisco, Calif. at the founding meeting of Global Nurses United, unions from 14 countries were at the table. At this year's GNU meeting, nearly two hundred nurses from 35 countries came together to discuss the worldwide collective struggles of the nursing profession. On this 10th anniversary of GNU, the upsurge in global nurse solidarity has been simply tremendous. Arriving from as far away as Brazil, Kenya, and South Korea, nurse leaders were seated around a long line of flags. The flags of Italy, Angola, Burundi, Chile, France, Turkey, and Japan were newly added to the international dis- play; these country's nurse unions joined GNU in the years since the group's last meeting in Santo Domingo in 2019. At this year's meeting, the reflections of GNU's member unions under- scored the necessity of building global connections. Despite differences in language, health care systems, wealth, and culture, nurses around the world shared the collective grief and anger of enduring a pandemic without adequ- ate support from either employers or governments. Bonnie Castillo, RN and executive director of GNU founding member National Nurses United, detailed the horrific failure of the U.S. government to protect its health care workers and its people. "The CDC even said a bandana was sufficient protection against Covid, allowing and encouraging Covid-posi- tive workers to return to work," she said. Even after hearing three years of tragic Covid stories, the callousness—and lack of scientific rigor—of the United States' response left the room of international nurses aghast. But the United States was no outlier. Solange Aparecida Caetano, pres- ident of Brazilian nurse union Federação Nacional dos Enfermeiros (FNE), described her government's "policy of death" and how it caused a mental health crisis among the union's membership. Like in the United States, Brazil- ians were confronted by a fascist president who denied Covid-19. Michael Whaites, assistant secretary general of New South Wales Nurses and Mid- wives Association, tragically shared how skyrocketing moral distress is leading to a wave of suicides among Australian nurses and midwives. In Chile, José Luis Espinoza, president of Federación Nacional de Asociaciones de Enfer- meras y Enfermeros, cited that over one-third of Chilean nurses are not working, in part due to the mental health burdens suffered during Covid. All over the world, nurses' hearts were breaking after being abandoned on the front lines. But union nurses' resolve to protect lives and protect our pro- fession was not weakened—in fact, the opposite happened. Although not an official member of GNU, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) from the United Kingdom joined this year's meeting to share the injustices that spurred their members to go on strike, for the first time in its 106-year history. Examples of surging nurse militancy, like the RCN strike, were proudly recounted during the meeting. Just as much as it provided a necessary space to grieve the pain and suffering endured by nurses during the worst pandemic in a century, the GNU meeting also allowed the group to take stock of what was—and what can be—accomplished on an international scale, by fighting back together. CNA/NNOC President Zenei Triunfo-Cortez, RN highlighted some of the victories notched by this global nurse federation, which represents more than three million nurses: "GNU took joint action to press the World Health Organi- zation to recognize Covid as an aerosol-transmitted virus and urged them to adopt the precautionary principle and recommend optimal PPE when it came to guidance the WHO issued to governments and health care employers." And in order for people in poorer countries to get equal access to Covid vaccines, tests, and treatments, GNU once again took action together to urge govern- ments at the World Trade Organization to adopt the TRIPS Waiver. Union nurses' role and responsibility as advocates for public health and "guarantors of the entire medical system"—as Espinoza, president of Chilean nurse union, declared—is a source of pride internationally. Indeed, the room burst into applause when the screen displayed that, for the last 21 years, nurs- ing has been awarded the distinction of being the most trusted profession by the Gallup Poll. The privatization of public health care systems, the systemic abandonment of precautionary principles, the deliberate crisis of short staffing, the ever-pre- sent and growing threat of climate change. These are just some of the concerning trends that were raised repeatedly by leaders of member unions at the GNU meeting. Against these urgent, overlapping threats to the nursing profession and the health and well-being of the entire world, GNU nurses vowed not to cede action and leadership to the same employers and govern- ments that abandoned their responsibility to the people. In that spirit of defiant leadership and solidarity, an important step forward was taken by GNU member unions to improve the world's readiness for the next pandemic. After a lively discussion, GNU member unions voted to engage as a group in the WHO's pandemic treaty negotiations. The current draft fails to adequ- ately call for occupational health and safety protections for health care workers, labor and union rights of workers, and participation by health care unions. Each member union committed to share concerns about the WHO draft treaty with their country's respective health ministers. The group's col- lective demands include: prioritizing worker health and safety (including mental health), implementing the precautionary principle, and drawing a clear connection between the climate crisis and the development and spread of viruses. It's a step toward ensuring the world builds on the collective learnings and experiences of nurses. While there might be a void of leadership at the busi- ness, national, and international levels, GNU's defiance, determination, and global solidarity to reimagine a world built on care was inspiring. —Michelle Morris Common Vision On the 10th anniversary meeting of Global Nurses United, nurses from around the world shared their sorrows, triumphs, and the work ahead.

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