National Nurses United

A P R I L | M AY | J U N E 2 0 2 5 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 15 " V isibility is our tool," says Kristine Kittleson, RN and member of the Professional Practice Committee (PPC) at Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin (ASMCA) in Austin, Texas. "Texas is a right- to-work state. The union is us. We have to be visible to keep our membership up, to keep up with recruitment." "Tabling is part of our monthly PPC meeting," says Kristan Delmarty, RN and PPC member at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Center in Santa Monica, and a California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee board member. "It's a way for nurses to get information and ask questions. The visibility of us being there is super important, especially around the contract negotiation process." Member outreach is a key element of internal organizing, whether nurses have been unionized for a few years or for decades. Kittleson and some 1,300 ASMCA nurses voted to join National Nurses Organ- izing Committee (NNOC), an affiliate of National Nurses United (NNU), in Septem- ber 2022 and ratified their very first contract in March 2024. Their PPC began meeting in May 2024. For decades, NNU affiliate Cali- fornia Nurses Association (CNA) has fought for University of California (UC) RNs, currently representing 25,000 nurses across the system, including 1,200 nurses at UCLA Santa Monica where Delmarty works. The PPC is an integral part of a CNA/NNOC collective bargaining agree- ment. This staff RN committee has the authority to document unsafe practices and the power to make real changes. Elected members of the PPC represent every major nursing unit, meeting in the hospital on paid time. The PPC also meets periodically with management to address issues of concern. Here are some examples of how two Professional Practice Committees, one in Texas and another in California, reach out to nurses at their respective facilities. Austin Outreach one of the regular events organized by the PPC at Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin is what the nurses call "conference rooms." At least once a month, the PPC, which has 10 RN members, will hold a PPC open house in a conference room for two to three hours during the day shift and another one during the night shift so they can reach as many nurses as possible. "It gives us time and space to have conversations with members and nonmembers," said Kittleson, who works in the post-partum unit at ASMCA and is also the union's chief nurse representative. "Nurses can flow in and engage when they can find time." To get the word out, they send a message to the members-only WhatsApp group and they hand out flyers. Each conference room event usually has food, union swag, flyers with information on current campaigns, union rights, and Assignment Despite Objection forms (ADOs), which gives union RNs the ability to report unsafe conditions and formally notify management of prob- lems. ADOs are admissible in court, with regulatory agencies, and are protected under federal labor law. The PPC lets nurses know that it's unlawful for the employer to discipline or retaliate against an RN for filing an ADO. "We make our flyers based on what's going on in the hospital," says Monica Gonzalez, RN in ASMCA's neurological medical-surgi- cal unit and PPC member. "Right now, we Sixth in a series Being Visible Member outreach is a key element of internal organizing By Chuleenan Svetvilas Nurses Week evening event at Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin.

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