National Nurses United

9 2017 Nurses support efforts around the country at passing state-based single-payer legislation, including the CNA-sponsored S.B. 562 in California, the Minnesota Health Plan, and a single-payer initiative in Maryland. As the new presidential administration quickly moved to ban refugees and travelers from certain countries, impose massive deregulation, and fill federal court seats with conservative judges, nurses and other pro- gressive activists gather to strategize at the second People's Summit under the rallying theme, "Beyond Resistance." RNRN deploys more than 50 volunteer nurses as part of larger AFL-CIO mission to Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria, working in teams across the country to assess residents' medical needs and educate them about how to access clean water and avoid infec- tious diseases. The federal government's emergency response was completely deficient. For many residents, RNRN nurses were the first medical personnel to visit their towns. 2018 Founding executive director of modern-day CNA/ NNOC, RoseAnn DeMoro, retires after 32 years lead- ing the organization. Bonnie Castillo, RN, a nurse leader who has served in numerous capacities within CNA/NNOC, steps in as the new executive director. CNA succeeds in initiating creation of Cal/OSHA standards to protect health care workers from noxious surgical plumes. Around 14,000 University of California registered nurses and nurse practitioners stage a two-day walkout as part of a historic sympathy strike with AFSCME and UPTE colleagues. Nurses join with labor unions across the country to protest the Janus v. AFSCME U.S. Supreme Court decision, which turns all public-sector bargaining units into "right to work" environments where workers can refuse to pay dues but still be represented by the union. Members of the U.S. House of Representatives form its first Medicare for All caucus. Nurses protest the forcible separation by immigration officials of asylum-seeking families from their children at the United States-Mexico border. Veterans Health Administration nurses rally against major administration attacks on our union rights by eliminating "official time" for VA nurses who represent coworkers and leaving our negotiated contract in limbo. 2019 A federal ratios bill, sponsored by NNU and based on California's mandatory nurse-to-patient ratios law, is reintroduced by Sen. Sherrod Brown in the Senate and Rep. Jan Schakowsky in the House. The legislation addresses an epidemic of deliberate understaffing in our nation's hospitals that puts patients and the public at risk. In a historic victory, RNs at Chinese Hospital in San Francisco vote to join CNA/NNU. This vote represents one of the last remaining nonunion hospitals in San Francisco. Following the deaths of two children in federal deten- tion facilities, NNU's Registered Nurse Response Network (RNRN) begins sending volunteer RNs to Tucson, Ariz. to work in the Casa Alitas Shelter, which provides basic medical support to migrants and asy- lum seekers after their long and arduous journey, and detention in federal facilities. Grassroots momentum for Medicare for All, led by nurses, results in the U.S. House of Representatives holding its first-ever hearing on NNU-endorsed Medi- care for All legislation, and the bill's cosponsors grow to 118 members. CNA/NNOC hosts Global Nurses Solidarity Assembly in San Francisco, Calif., a three-day gathering of 1,500 nurses, labor leaders, and representatives from more than 25 countries to address a range of topics includ- ing global health, environmental and racial justice, and the fight against inhumane immigration policy. In a widely bipartisan vote, the U.S. House passes the groundbreaking H.R. 1309, the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, a bill strongly endorsed by NNU. The legislation holds employers accountable, through federal OSHA, for having a prevention plan in place to stop workplace violence before it occurs. NNU deploys RNRN volunteers to the Bahamas to help heal survivors of Hurricane Dorian. 2020 NNU begins monitoring the Covid-19 virus in January and over the following weeks writes to almost every global and federal health and workplace safety agency and leader to adopt the highest standards and protec- tions against the virus. NNU sends hospital facilities requests for information to ensure their preparation for Covid-19, and creates a SARS-CoV-2 fact sheet to keep members informed. CNA/NNU teams up with the Asian American Stud- ies Department at U.C. Davis to launch the Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies, and a new collaboration focused on Asian-American nurses. The launch pre- miered a short film commissioned by CNA/NNU about Filipino nurse activists, The Strength of Many. NNU conducts the first of several national surveys of RNs during the Covid-19 pandemic, documenting seri- ous deficiencies in PPE and other protections for front- line health workers, and a general disregard for nurses and patient safety. For Nurses Week, NNU nurses speak out for Covid-19 protections at events all across the country, including the #ProtectNurses online art show, a 1,000-person online vigil in honor of fallen nurses, and a protest at the White House, placing one pair of shoes for every nurse who has died of Covid. CNA sponsors and wins A.B. 2537, a bill that requires California hospitals to create and maintain a three-month stockpile of new, unexpired N95 respirators, gowns, and personal pro- tective equipment (PPE) to protect employees and patients. CNA sponsors and wins A.B. 2037, a bill requiring hos- pitals to provide increased public noticing of hospital and service closures so that communities have time to save their local hospital services.

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