National Nurses United

tizing patients and health care workers. Let's be clear: ICE does not belong in our hospitals. Or in our communities. Until we can abolish this deadly, lawless force terrorizing our patients, we cannot stand by while our government prioritizes bil- lionaires and ICE over Medicaid!" These words rang especially true as the crowd learned in real time that the very same morning of the tour launch, their union nurse brother Alex Pretti, RN, had been killed by federal agents in Minneapolis. "To fund the unnecessary killing of a man in Minnesota today, money is taken from health care and handed to enforcement and detention," said tour launch speaker Ada Briceño, copresident of UNITE HERE Local 11. An immigrant herself, Briceño said she never imagined she would see armed federal agents invading com- munities in the United States. "Our communities are told there's no money to keep hospitals open," said Briceño. "Yet billions are found to deliberately have anguish in our communities and tear our fam- ilies apart. We reject that choice. We believe in care over cruelty. We believe in hospitals over handcuffs." California Labor Federation President Lorena Gonzalez praised nurses for launching the tour at this critical moment. "I was raised by a registered nurse, a CNA member, so I know that in these times of moral chaos, there is no better group of indi- viduals to lead this fight with moral clarity than our registered nurses," said Gonzalez. "I want to thank all of you for everything you do every single day, for taking up the helm of that moral clarity. And for leading with your hearts and your minds every single time." Reding laid out state-based demands to save community hospi- tals and protect patients, including calling on California elected officials to establish a moratorium on hospital and service clo- sures, and to back guaranteed health care for all people in California with CalCare (A.B. 1900), among other measures (see page 10). National Nurses United (NNU) Executive Director Puneet Maharaj emphasized that, at the federal level, it is critical to demand a complete reversal of the over $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and other critical public programs passed via H.R. 1— along with fighting to win Medicare for All. "These cuts put tens of thousands of lives at risk," said Maharaj. "We're here today to grow our grassroots power to win change. In these unprecedented times, organizing in an unprecedented way is how we fight back." Maharaj also underscored that it is not enough to just resist attacks on working people by the billionaire class. We must build a positive vision of the kind of society we do want, with Medicare for All, affordable housing, good union jobs, and more. That's why nurses will also be using the Red Alert tour to advance a care plan for healing this country, called nurses' "Vision for a Healthy Society." (See nnu.org/visionpetition to sign on and let elected officials know they must act to protect working-class people.) "We have the right to live in a healthy environment, work in safe workplaces, and walk down the street without fear of being detained or murdered by federal agents," said Maharaj. "We live in the richest nation on earth. There is enough money to build a healthy future." California Sen. Sasha Renee Perez, who also spoke at the event, shared that—like Gonzalez — she was raised by nurses. "When an emergency happens, when Covid-19 happened, when these ICE raids happen, who holds the line to protect our commu- nities? The nurses do," said Perez. "When we are out here with our union leaders, our faith leaders, and our elected officials from the Assembly and the Senate, what are [the Trump administration and Republicans] doing? They are cutting Medicaid by $1 trillion … Today is about empowering and educating every single person across this country to make sure they know this stops with us. If they come for one of us, they come for all of us." In addition to an impressive list of state and local elected officials who came out to speak in support of nurses, along with speakers from labor unions and allied community organizations, the Red Alert tour was also full of joy and the community spirit that keeps our grassroots movement charged up to fight the power. There was inspiring music, free tacos, and a fun reading of NNU's new children's book Medi Bear Saves the Hospital, published in support of the tour. "I really hope together that we're going to help keep hospitals like ours open, like Verdugo Hills open, and all the services that we pro- vide will stay intact," said Exevea. "I would love to have more community events like this, more community involvement." The Red Alert: Save Our Hospitals tour will be in California, Min- nesota, Illinois, Maine, and Michigan in the coming months, with new stops being added all the time. Visit nationalnursesunited.org/redalert to stay up to date on upcoming locations. Kari Jones is a contributing writer for National Nurse. J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y | M A R C H 2 0 2 6 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 Bringing change to bear Fighting for change is fun for the whole family with NNU's new chil- dren's book Medi Bear Saves the Hospital. A little bear gets special care at Forest Town Hospital from his friend Nurse Owl. But when some corporate sharks try to make care cuts, Medi Bear and the nurses, with the help of a magic bus, save the day using the power of solidarity. "In these times of moral chaos, there is no better group of individuals to lead this fight with moral clarity than our registered nurses." Opposite: Sandy Reding, RN and CNA/NNOC president at Red Alert kickoff; Above: NNU Executive Director Puneet Maharaj revs up the crowd.

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