The  Nurses’ Union  Shines a Bright Pathway
To a Bigger  and Stronger  Labor  Movement

By Harry Kelber

The National Nurses United (NNU) is one of the most remarkable labor organizations in the country. In a few years, it has nearly tripled its membership, growing from a California-based  union of about 60,000  to a powerful national nurses association of more than 155,000--and still growing--in a unique manner, quite unlike  other trade unions.

NNU has proven that a union can grow even in tough economic times. if its members are inspired to play an active role in its organizing campaigns. In  the past two weeks, ,more than 1,900 registered nurses in five Texas hospitals voted to join  the Texas affiliate of NNU in a secret ballot election conducted by the National Labor Relations  Board. NNU has won  a string of election victories covering 5,500 RNs in Texas, Nevada and Illinois, since it was founded in December 2009.

NNU Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro termed the election victories as confirmation that RN unionists are  “the most independent, honest brokers  for patients, based on their very real, life experience, fighting to protect patients at the bedside and to change the healthcare system for all patients and  future patients”

Speaking on the key issues that interest  RNs everywhere, David Johnson. NNU Organizing Director, listed “enhanced, safe staffing; upgrading working conditions, and their ability to advocate for patients.”  “NNU’s track record in achieving gains in all these areas is a reason for our explosive growth,” Johnson said.

Registered nurses are unique because they deal with real life-and-death issues. Their legislative efforts in behalf of hospital patients have won them broad public praise,  especially from people who have been hospitalized. RNs are usually among the first  to provide their professional skills when a catastrophe occurs, as in the current BP oil crisis in the Gulf of Mexico.

Nurses’ Union Fights to Gain Health Care for All Americans

As NNU Executive Director, DeMoro, who  has been one of the union’s leading strategists, said: “This is a special moment.  Nurses  know we need far more progress on achieving comprehensive healthcare reform, including desperately-needed patient protections. They are taking power into their own hands to work for change, to achieve a better future for their patients, communities, their families and themselves, and they will win, DeMoro said.

Modern Health Care Magazine has named DeMoro as one of the hundred  most influential health care authorities in the world. She is also a member  of the policy-making AFL-CIO Executive Council.

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The registered nurses in the NNU don’t have to be cajoled or threatened to come to a union rally or picket line on a particular issue. They come willingly, even enthusiastically, to participate in a union event, because they share the vision  and mission of their leaders.

During the Great Depression, CIO unions (and some AFL unions) organized millions of women and minorities who had never been in a union. NNU is carrying forward that tradition.  AFL-CIO leaders must always remember that a union’s greatest asset is its members, and learn how to inspire them into action.—Harry Kelber.