National Nurses United

Throughout the last century, California Nurses Association has been on the historical and clinical cutting edge of confronting a political economy that values profits over people. The delivery of health care in the United States has undergone dramatic changes in the span of 100 years. As the 20th cen- tury closed, RNs began to challenge the structure of the health care system and, through our collective action, advance the role of nurses as patient advo- cates at the patient's side and beyond. The pivotal change in our organization came in 1993, the year that direct-care RNs took charge of the organization and for the first time elected a staff nurse majority on the board of directors. The organization adopted a platform based on patient advocacy, which has served as our guiding principle ever since and allowed us to build alliances with patients in promoting an improved and expanded Medicare for All, based on a single-payer model. Our History — A Timeline 1903 CNA founded: One of the first professional RN organizations in the United States. 1905 CNA-sponsored legislation results in the first RN licensure. 1913 California becomes first state to include unpaid student nurses in laws and to limit work day to eight hours for women's labor. 1935 Social Security Act adopted—nurses termed indepen- dent contractors and not covered until 1952. 1938 CNA adopts platform for the eight-hour workday. 1945 CNA first in the nation to represent nurses in collec- tive bargaining agreements, negotiating contracts at five San Francisco Bay Area hospitals establishing the 40-hour work week, vacation, sick leave, health bene- fits, shift differentials, and 15 percent salary increase. 1966 2,000 CNA RNs stage mass resignation protest and win major gains: 40 percent pay increase, eight paid holidays, and time-and-a-half for holidays worked. 1969 Establishment of Professional Practice Committees (PPC) and paid education leave in CNA contracts. 1971 CNA contract language requires hospital staffing systems based on patient acuity and nursing care with staff RNs participating in staffing assignments. 1974 Major strike by 4,400 RNs for 21 days, affecting 42 Northern California clinics and hospitals. RNs win: every other weekend off, hospital must share staffing and patient classification information with CNA, and RNs must be trained for specialty. 1976 CNA-sponsored regulation establishes mandated RN-to-patient ratios in intensive care units in all California hospitals. 1983 University of California medical center RNs vote to join CNA in an election covering 4,420 RNs — one of the single biggest organizing election victories ever for RNs. 1992 Staff RNs organize massive resistance and CNA takes successful legal action in getting Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley, Calif. to rescind a work redesign program that would have displaced RNs with unlicensed assis- tive personnel. 1,700 RNs and other employees spread among five unions win seven-week strike at Summit Medical Center, Oakland, Calif. on the right to strike in support of one another. 1993 Staff RN majority elected to CNA Board of Directors for the first time in CNA history on a platform promot- ing patient advocacy and challenging unsafe hospital restructuring. CNA introduces first ratios legislation for all acute-care units, A.B. 1445. 1995 CNA Convention overwhelmingly votes to become an independent organization, severing ties with American Nurses Association. Our History More Than 100 Years of RN Power 6 RNs in Motion

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