Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/1540947
just society for patients and our planet," said CNA/NNOC and NNU Executive Director Puneet Maharaj. Nurses were especially encour- aged to hear from nurse and health care worker union leaders in nations where efforts to divide and conquer working people were met with mass resistance—and shut down. "Authoritarian regimes will threaten unions because it's the big- gest threat to them," said Korean Health and Medical Workers Union (KHMU) President Hee-sun Choi, RN. CNA/NNOC Vet- erans Affairs nurses understand this well, as the Trump administration has stripped away the protected union rights of fed- eral workers, including 15,000 VA nurses. It's possible to fight back successfully against attacks on working people's rights, said Choi, describing how the people of South Korea stood together in such massive numbers that they were able to stop former South Korean President Yoon's 2024 attempt to declare mar- tial law. But to fully get Yoon out of office, after his attempt at a military takeover was halted, KHMU nurses prepared for a nation- wide strike, along with taking part in ongoing protests, in extremely cold weather. Thanks to their efforts, in solidarity with their fellow working people, martial law only lasted six hours and Yoon was ousted. "The rise of fascism is a structural shift that threatens the rights and very survival of nurses, patients, and the entire working class. To resist, our solidarity is critical," said Choi. Nurses know that safe patient care conditions in U.S. and global hospitals are critical for achieving a healthier nation and world. So issues such as ending workplace violence and winning safe staffing ratios were top of mind at GNSA. Nurses in states and countries that have already won ratios shared strategies and inspiration with nurses still fighting for this critical protection. "The biggest challenge in my country, they call it a 'shortage of nurses.' But is it a shortage of bodies, or a shortage of nurses willing to work in these awful conditions?" said Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) President Linda Silas, RN. The British Columbia Nurses Association (BCNU), a CFNU affiliate, recently won its ratios fight, Silas noted, but nurses can never back down for a moment, throughout the implementation process. "The government said we need to bring more academics to deter- mine what the ratios will be. BCNU said no, we don't need more Ph.D.s, we need nurses as expert witnesses," said Silas. Nurses also threaded the needle on how even the fight to win safe staffing limits and other safe patient care protections is inherently political because nurses must stand up for their patients in every possible way — including by pushing through and enforcing laws to hold employers accountable. "Nurses everywhere say 'Why are we in politics?' Well, why do you think we have ratios in California?" said CNA/NNOC and NNU President Cathy Kennedy, RN, referring to the 1999 ratios law that CNA RNs won through a grueling, decades-long political fight. A variety of afternoon CE courses offered at GNSA helped expand on issues woven throughout the event, including A.I. in health care, climate justice, building the labor movement, resisting global assaults on trans patients and gender-affirming care, pan- demic preparedness, and more. "I've been very inspired while I've been here. I did go to the breakout sessions about trans patients and gender-affirming care, J U LY | A U G U S T | S E P T E M B E R 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 21 S, ONE FIGHT