National Nurses United

"Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle." —Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "We believe that it is going to be the nurses, the RNs, who will lead the change in healthcare." —Kay McVay, RN, President Emeritus, California Nurses Association Y ear 15 of the new millen- nium opened with a most momentous achievement for registered nurses and patients—a precedent-setting agreement in the largest RN contract in the nation, for 18,000 Kaiser Permanente RNs and NPs that will likely raise the bar for nurses from coast to coast. The new pact could not have been real- ized without the unified determination of Kaiser nurses, with the broad support of other RNs and our unparalleled organiza- tion, to defend the role of nurses and their professional expertise as patient advocates. Their unity and devotion to assuring the highest level of quality care for patients as well as protections for the nurses who deliv- er that care produced a historic agreement that will result in hundreds of additional RNs providing care for patients, not just in the clinics and home, but in the hospitals as well with a significant impact on the quality of care. It means an agreement that features land- mark new security for nurses on the job, with supplemental insurance, for RNs exposed to workplace violence, deadly infectious diseases such as Ebola, and needle- stick injuries. And it includes a significant, well-earned, pay increase, stricter limits on travelers, and mainte nance of the critical pension plan for nurses to look forward to be able to retire with dignity and in health. Yet, the new pact cannot be understood just in the months of rallies, marches, and struggles by Kaiser RNs. It is also a reminder of the traditions and efforts of Kaiser RNs like Kay McVay and CNA over many years, and a historical memory lodged in the offices 12 N A T I O N A L N U R S E 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 J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 5 RoseAnn DeMoro Executive Director, National Nurses United Standing on our own shoulders Latest Kaiser contract victory was built on decades of work by RNs Across all pages: Kaiser Permanente RNs staged a series of historic strikes in the late 1990s. The photos shown here are from strikes held in September and November of 1998.

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