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I n august, hospital executives got a taste of what to expect if they try to deny regis- tered nurses their right to belong to a union. Hundreds of RNs with CNA/NNOC's growing national network of activists staged a rowdy protest Aug. 8 in downtown Chica- go, even stopping midday traffic, to focus attention on the hospital industry's support of an expected federal ruling that would jeopardize RNs' rights to union protections and to be patient advocates by reclassifying them as supervisors. Demonstrators converged at the national headquarters of the American Hospital Asso- ciation to challenge its position that the National Labor Rela- tions Board should designate nurses and lead workers in other industries as supervisors and therefore ineligible for union representation. The expected ruling, which could affect hundreds of thousands of RNs and up to eight million workers by some esti- mates, is known as the "Kentucky River" deci- sion because it answers questions left open by a U.S. Supreme Court case of that name. The nurse-related cases originated from anti- union campaigns run by hospitals attempting to block organizing drives. Anticipating a decision unfavorable to RNs from the anti-union board, CNA/NNOC is mobilizing nurses around the country and escalating efforts to pressure hospitals not to recognize any ruling that undermines RN rights. "The American Hospital Association is behind this drive to strip us nurses of our right to advocate for our patients and we are here to let them know we will fight them on this like we fought them when they tried to take away our ratios!" said Deborah Burg- er, RN and CNA/NNOC president, during a speech to demonstrators gathered in Chica- go's Daley Plaza. She echoed a sentiment many nurses in the crowd shared. Martese Chism, an RN with CNA/NNOC's Cook County Bureau of Health Services bar- gaining unit told her nurse colleagues to "put our feet down against the Bush administra- tion, the Labor Board, the Hospital Associa- tion and anyone else who would block our ability to fight for our patients." Chanting "Super nurses, yes! Supervisors, no!," the group then marched at lunch hour through Chicago's congested downtown to the American Hospital Association's offices, where nurse leaders were prepared to risk arrest in order to discuss AHA's position with representatives. But despite trying front and back doors, the nurses found the Associ- ation's corporate tower locked to them. To show how far they'll go to protect their patients, this group of nurse leaders, dubbed the "Chicago 25" (see sidebar), next staged an impromptu sit-down on Franklin Avenue. As the rest of the demonstrators flooded in to support the protestors, chanting "AHA , shame on you" and "Patients, not profits," 4 R E G I S T E R E D N U R S E W W W . C A L N U R S E S . O R G A U G U S T 2 0 0 6 NewsBriefs RNs Confront Hospital Industry on NATIONAL ABOVE LEFT AN D OPPOSITE: LOREN SANTOW Above: CNA/NNOC board members and hundreds of other RNs march from Chicago's Daley Plaza to American Hospital Association headquarters. Right: Jan Rodolfo, RN explains to media why nurses are upset with hospital industry representatives.