National Nurses United

RAD_Oct 11/6/10 2:02 PM Page 11 Rose Ann DeMoro Executive Director, National Nurses United An Open Letter to Nicky Diaz D person, there is sadness in his heart.  When a nia, the sixth largest economy in the world. ear nicky, Meg Whitman and those like her see a Had it not been for you, that could have This letter comes to you homeless person, they are annoyed because been Meg Whitman.  on behalf of nurses that person is in their visual sight.  I know Governor-elect Brown quite well. throughout the country to Unknown thousands of people could And what I know mostly about him is that thank you for your courage have become deeply harmed by a Whitman he has tremendous compassion.  in taking a difficult stand Governing California, or anywhere in Amer- administration. These people, with advocathat undoubtedly changed history. cy coming from the nurses, will hopefully ica, is no easy task. But in great part because of As Meg Whitman's hardworking housefind California a place where they have you, we will now be able to develop a model for keeper for nine years, Whitman obviously healthcare, where they have jobs, and the rest of the country to follow, a model where had respect for the quality of your work. But where they can live a secure life with their people are respected for their humanity.  like the rest of us, you would have been Unlike under a Whitman administration, family. collateral damage to her political ambitions. If every state in this nation had a Nicky where people would have been viewed as When you stood up, while visibly shakDiaz, this country could truly ing, to one of the wealthiest become the home of the brave women in the world, you stood When a Jerry Brown sees a homeless and the free. And people who up for all people who are not a person, there is sadness in his heart. put themselves at risk, as you part of the corporate elite. You When a Meg Whitman and those did, to speak out for others stood up for humanity.  like her see a homeless person, they would be viewed as heroes. As you said, "I'm doing are annoyed because that person From the bottom of my this because I know there are is in their visual sight. heart, thank you, Nicky. The a lot of Megs out there who are nurses in California will be mistreating the Nickys who work honoring you at their convention next expendable commodities if they were not so hard for them." year. We sincerely hope that you and your Whitman and most in her corporate class serving up greater profits for corporations. family may find California a safe and As Brown said in the second debate with see all of our lives as expendable for money. loving place for you for the rest of your Whitman, to be used, to "do our dirty work, We were all you, Nicky.  lives. and then we're finished with you, like an Your bravery has been noted throughout orange [that has been squeezed]. You just the world.  throw it away ... That's not right." Largely because of your honesty, Jerry Rose Ann DeMoro is executive director of National When a Jerry Brown sees a homeless Brown will now become governor of CaliforNurses United. N icandra (Nicky) Diaz Santillan, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, was employed by Meg Whitman and her husband, Dr. Griffith Harsh IV, for nine years as a housekeeper. In a Sept. 29 press conference, Diaz recounted how, after Whitman began her campaign for governor, Nicky went to the billionaire CEO and asked for help to find an immigration attorney to seek legalization. The response from Whitman, who later told press she viewed Nicky as a "member of her extended family," was to fire Diaz and tell her, "Don't say anything to my children, I will tell them you already have a new job and that you want to go to school and from now on, you don't know me and I don't know you. You never 0 C TO B E R 2 01 0 have seen me, and I have never seen you. Do you understand me?" Whitman's actions highlighted her double standard on immigration policy (a hard line for other employers, a different standard for herself). It also reinforced doubts about Whitman's character and credibility – she denied knowing Diaz's immigration status though it was revealed that Dr. Harsh had written a note on a letter from the federal government indicating that her name and Social Security number did not match, a clear indication that they were aware of her legal status and a refutation of Whitman's insistence they had seen no documents about her status. The Los Angeles Times later called the Sept. 29 press conference a "turning point" in the California governor's race. 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 AT I O N A L N U R S E 11

• Cover