National Nurses United

RAD_Dec 12/22/10 6:17 PM Page 9 Rose Ann DeMoro Executive Director, National Nurses United Leaps and Bounds National Nurses United's phenomenal organizing wins and growth in 2010 is just the start of something even bigger O ne year after an auspicious desert birth in Phoenix, National Nurses United is already leaving an indelible mark on the healthcare landscape. The signs of our progress in building the national nurses movement are everywhere. But perhaps the most enduring footprint of the year may be found in a phenomenal year of NNU growth. When delegates to the NNU founding convention early last December pledged to work to organize all direct care RNs "into a single organization capable of exercising influence over the healthcare industry, governments, and employers," few probably imagined the stunning, whirlwind year that would follow. One year later, our founding vision has been fulfilled. Over 8,000 RNs in more than a dozen hospitals have joined the NNU family. Even more striking is the geographic scope of this remarkable wave. From Las Vegas to the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, from central Florida to Kansas City, NNU is now the voice of RNs across our land. With these victories, NNU now has a union presence for RNs in nine out of the 10 largest RN states in America. NNU has won victories in regions where few RNs have collective representation and limited ability to advocate for their patients and themselves. In Texas, for example, RN unionism is a new concept, but is now spreading like wildfire, building influence for RNs. We also expanded NNU's presence in major political centers, including the largest hospital in the nation's capital, Washington Hospital Medical Center, and the important University of Chicago Medical Center. Our organizing this year focused on strategic targets designed to magnify RN power to change the face of healthcare, especially among those who hold so much leverage in the hospital industry. More than 5,100 RNs alone from the nation's largest hospital system, HCA, DECEMBER 2010 joined NNU this year. This concentration enhances the strength of RNs to win good contracts and serves as an inspiration for non-union RNs in their communities. That has enabled us to establish a national NNU HCA Division, representing 7,000 RNs at 16 HCA hospitals, from Florida to California. For RNs around the country who watched the birth of NNU, our organizing achievements serve as confirmation that the time is now for RNs to reclaim their voice and their power. While too many unions grapple with shrinking ranks amidst an employer and anti-union offensive, NNU symbolizes the possibility of dramatic growth in numbers and strength for unionism dedicated to social change. Our organizing model is also one that builds RN activism. A small army of RN organizers helped on these organizing campaigns from every corner of the NNU. They not only helped build RN clout in the organizing campaigns, but gained valuable skills and inspiration from their exposure to NNU organizing methods and RN hunger for union representation in non-union hospitals. At the center of this effort was a clear vision of improving conditions for patients and standards for RNs—in stark contrast to the concerted effort of the healthcare industry to roll back care conditions and RN living standards. For too long, nurses in a handful of states have led the fight to improve staffing, pay, and retirement for RNs. Elsewhere, RNs and their patients have suffered as hospital administrators extract the maximum amount of money out of illness at the expense of safe, therapeutic, and effective care. Employers eager to improve their bottom lines have targeted the hard-fought conditions enjoyed by union RNs, and their patients, in unionized hospitals and states. Organizing thousands of RNs, especially in previously non-union areas of the country, begins the process of elevating the substandard conditions under which too many RNs 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 have been forced to practice. Every RN in the country deserves good pay, quality healthcare for themselves and their families, a decent and guaranteed retirement, and power to exercise their practice for the good of the patients. Every patient deserves guaranteed safe RN-to-patient ratios and other safe conditions for the healing and recovery that should be the only mission of hospital care. Finally, our organizing growth heralds a model for the fight to change the direction of our nation. Americans are struggling to reclaim the values that RNs hold dear. Caring, compassion, and community are espoused by most Americans, yet they are too seldom reflected in the politics and policies of our nation. During a period where wealth and power are concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, and the very idea of democracy is sacrificed on the altar of profit, RNs and their organization can serve as a beacon for a return to our fundamental values. The RN profession is widely respected by the public precisely because nurses embody these ideals. Through NNU, we can help lead the country in a different direction, where caring and compassion matter more than dollars and demagoguery. None of these successes would have been possible without the far-sighted leadership of the NNU Executive Council, and the incredible work of our organizing staff, led by NNU field director Mike Griffing, NNU organizing director David Johnson, and their irrepressible team of unmatched, dedicated staff. There is much hard work to follow, as we translate organizing success into union contracts and as there are thousands more RNs to organize into our movement—all requiring a tremendous commitment of energy, imagination, skill and resources, and the heart and soul of nurses everywhere. But what a beginning on which to build that foundation. Rose Ann DeMoro is executive director of National Nurses United. N AT I O N A L N U R S E 9

• Cover