National Nurses United

NewsBriefs:Public 8/15/07 4:28 PM Page 6 NewsBriefs 2007 House of Delegates Convenes in September n cna/nnoc's largest-ever House of Delegates convention, members from around the country will converge in Sacramento, Calif. from Sept. 10-12 to strategize about their role and action plan for bringing positive social change to their patients and the public. Under the theme "Nurses in Motion," some 1000 RNs, which includes 624 delegates and hundreds more guests from other nursing and labor organizations, will attend workshops, classes, and plenary sessions to work toward goals such as winning comprehensive healthcare coverage for every American resident, establishing safe RN-to-patient ratios nationwide, defending nursing practice against deskilling hospital technologies, and ensuring and expanding the right to union representation for every RN in the face of federal labor decisions potentially classifying all nurses as supervisors. "We've stabilized the organization and consolidated our priorities," said Deborah Burger, RN and CNA/NNOC president. "We believe we've done enough internal retrospection and have adequate support to start working on bigger external stuff." So far, the 2007 House has lined up AFLCIO Secretary-Treasurer Rich Trumka and noted progressive author and activist Barbara Ehrenreich to address attendees. Trumka, a former president of United Mineworkers of America and himself a third-generation coalminer, is known among the nation's labor leaders as someone who consistently champions working people's interests above all else. Ehrenreich is one of the few authors today investigating and writing about the working poor, best known perhaps for her book Nickle and Dimed, in which she tries to subsist on just the earnings from minimum-wage jobs she takes. Delegates will also be treated to a performance by singer-songwriter and activist Holly Near. The House will also be a time to celebrate CNA/NNOC's achievements over the past two years: joining the AFL-CIO, holding the line against California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's rollback of safe staffing ratios, emerging as a major player in the healthcare reform debate, and growing the organization nationally—through organizing I 6 REGISTERED NURSE in other states and affiliating with the Maine State Nurses Association. At the 2007 House, CNA/NNOC's new governing structure, a four-member Council of Presidents, will also be installed, as will other officers and board members. Delegates will also have a chance to do what CNA/ NNOC nurses do best: agitate. Nurses will stage a major rally and march in support of SB 840 and HR 676, bills that would create single-payer healthcare systems in California and nationally. "This House is about providing nurses with the tools and support they need to organize their facilities into a meaningful structure to bring about the larger changes we hope to make," said Burger. —staff report CNA/NNOC JOINS FORCES WITH AFL-CIO ecognizing that winning true singlepayer healthcare reform in the United States will take a massive team effort, CNA/NNOC's 75,000 registered nurses in May joined the AFL-CIO, the 10 millionmember federation of the nation's labor unions. Rose Ann DeMoro, CNA/NNOC executive director, was named as a national vice president at the federation's August meeting and elected onto its Executive Council. "The strength of the labor movement coupled with the nurses' commitment to guaranteeing comprehensive healthcare coverage will provide the foundation for genuine reform," said Deborah Burger, RN and CNA/ NNOC president. AFL-CIO leaders commended CNA/ NNOC nurses for being among the country's most progressive and active players in the fight for real universal healthcare. "Nobody understands better than nurses that healthcare in our country cries out for reform," said R W W W. C A L N U R S E S . O R G AFL-CIO President John Sweeney in a statement. "CNA has led the drive for reform in California; working together in the AFLCIO, we have the power to build a broad new national movement than can win change." RNs gave the thumbs up at CNA/NNOC's 2005 House of Delegates convention to negotiate the terms of an affiliation with the federation. Among CNA/NNOC's main motivations for joining: tapping the collective power of millions of union members to work toward a common goal of single-payer healthcare, and collaborating on national issues that help or hurt all working people. Already, the AFL-CIO has been active in defense of nurses, such as arguing against classifying RNs as supervisors in the Kentucky River and Oakwood cases, fighting against privatizing Social Security, and pushing for the Employee Free Choice Act. In the coming year, CNA/NNOC will work closely with the federation on a national healthcare reform campaign targeted at influencing the 2008 presidential and Congressional elections. The affiliation unites 325,000 RNs in the federation, represented by a variety of unions. CNA/NNOC will join the AFL-CIO RNs Working Together Industry Coordinating Committee and affiliate with all AFLCIO state and local organizations where it has members. —staff report J U LY | A U G U S T 2 0 0 7

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