National Nurses United

A U G U S T 2 0 0 6 W W W . C A L N U R S E S . O R G R E G I S T E R E D N U R S E 5 Chicago police had no choice but to shut down traffic. Dozens of downtown workers, out on their lunch breaks, looked on in amazement at the unfolding spectacle. "It was a dramatic moment when all 300 nurses moved into the street and began chanting," said Jan Rodolfo, an RN from Oak- land and CNA/NNOC board member who participated in the sit-down. After a tense half-hour stand-off, it became clear that the police would not arrest the pro- testors and, after a final "We'll be back," the nurses and their supporters marched off. "We made our point," said CNA/NNOC Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro, and vowed that, "We are going to escalate." The Chicago rally came in the wake of a series of July 11 protests outside federal buildings nationwide by CNA/NNOC and other unions and labor groups, such as the AFL-CIO. —frank borgers A s t h e y l e a r n e d m o r e about the imminent Kentucky River decision, CNA/NNOC nurse leaders knew they wanted to show employer hospitals that nurses were prepared to up the ante in order to hold onto their union and protect their patients. They decided to strike the industry right on its home turf: the downtown Chi- cago offices of the American Hospital Asso- ciation. Nurses planned to confront AHA representatives about its support of reclassi- fying RNs, especially charge nurses, as supervisors, and were will- ing to risk arrest to make their point. Eventually, 25 nurses and staff stepped forward for this difficult mission and quickly became known as "The Chicago 25." Their assignment: Get into the AHA 28th-floor offices and ask the organ- ization to sign a proclamation saying it would back off its position. They vowed to plant themselves in the lobby until AHA agreed to talk, or the police carted them away, whichever came first. When the moment arrived, the group was excited but nervous. They all wore white scrub tops to distin- guish them. Few of them had ever been arrested before, and the commotion of the crowd added to the tension. Sussette Nacor- da, a coronary care RN from Los Angeles, hadn't even told her husband that she might get locked up. "I knew if I told him before, he might tell me not to do it," she explained. On top of the chaos, TV camera crews were chasing them everywhere they went. But when they got to the AHA's building on Franklin Avenue, they found all the doors— front, back, and sides—locked. What now? All of a sudden, they got another idea: Block Franklin Avenue by sitting down in the middle of the street. It happened very quickly before they could think twice: the team cap- tains looked for a break in traffic, the group grabbed a huge floating banner, then every- one briskly walked out, sat down across four lanes, and started chanting, "This is about patient care." Police stationed at the intersec- tions immediately started diverting traffic. Though it was clear officers were reluctant to arrest the group, they also showed up within minutes with a paddy wagon and plastic handcuffs. "I was happy to go out there," said Betty Kennedy, an RN at Stroger Hospital in Chicago. "The object was to raise awareness about this Kentucky River decision, which will probably affect all nurses. I was just dumbfounded by all the nurses who came from out of town and out of state for the protest. I was like, Yes! We're not going to take this lying down." After about a 15-minute standoff, the rest of the nurses on the sidewalk couldn't resist going to the aid of the 25 by joining them in the street. Now the police would have to arrest all of them or none of them. After much more chanting and cheering, the nurses felt they had made their point, and volun- tary left the street. "I was pretty proud of what I did," said Kim Takaoka, a newborn nursery RN from Southern California who sat in the street. Takaoka had only been asked that morning to be part of the 25, and it was her first act ever of civil disobedience. As a former member of the U.S. Army, she said yes right away because of her deep beliefs in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. "You know, I served my country for the right to protest, and now I'm using it. As a nurse, I'm tired of corporations controlling my work and workplace. I really want to wake up the American public." —staff report THIS IS ABOUT PATIENT CARE Supervisor Issue in Chicago RNs Sharon Bernard, Kathleen Blandini, Sue Cannon, Cathy Davis, Donna Grant, Leslie Hawkins, Linda Herrera, Betty Kennedy, Carol Koelle, Martha Kuhl, Mary Marengo, Malinda Markowitz, Robert Marth, Criselda Masisado, Kay McVay, John Greg Miller, Sussette Nacorda, Jonna Peterson, Jan Rodolfo, Lois Sanders, Sherri Stoddard, Kim Takaoka, David Welch, with Bonnie Castillo and Diane Hirsch-Garcia as staff leaders. T H E 25 "You know, I served my country for the right to protest, and now I'm using it." —kim takaoka, rn

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