The history of unions in the United States is both good and bad. The history of unions in the healthcare sector has been generally negative. While some of the goals of this new association are laudable, it is not clear what some of them really mean, such as “healthcare justice”. That may mean something quite different depending upon which group or individual you speak with. In the end, nurses are an indispensable part of the acute health care system and deserve fair treatment at all levels. But also, nurses are not doctors, hospital administrators or necessarily health care experts. One can only hope that this new organization will use the clout of its size for overall improvement in the health care system. This site would urge them to initially advocate for insurance reform so we can keep a private, market based system, and allow for government programs to underpin that system . . . obi jo
Nursing associations merge to create nation’s largest nurses’ union
Three unions that together represent about 150,000 registered nurses said Wednesday they are forming a new organization that would be the nation’s largest nurses’ union. The organization will be called the United American Nurses-National Nurses Organizing Committee and is affiliated with the AFL-CIO. The three unions to merge are the United American Nurses, California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, and the Massachusetts Nurses Association. The union could create a formidable political power in the country’s healthcare policies. The group’s goals include building a movement ‘to defend and advance the interests’ of direct-care nurses nationwide and organize ‘all’ non-union direct care RNs. The group also intends to provide a powerful national voice for ‘RN rights, safe RN practice, including RN-to-patient staffing ratios under the principle that safe staffing saves lives, and healthcare justice.
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New nurses’ union would be nation’s largest – http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/business/6269544.html
Nurses unions to combine – http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/19/BU6I1609SJ.DTL
3 of nation’s largest nursing unions merge, will target Dallas-Fort Worth area – http://articles.custombriefings.com/articlelink.aspx?tlid=1727308,jomaxx@aol.com&p=ama-090219-C¶m=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5kYWxsYXNuZXdzLmNvbS9zaGFyZWRjb250ZW50L2R3cy9idXMvc3Rvcmllcy8wMjE5MDlkbmJ1c251cnNldW5pb24uM2RhNDQ5ZS5odG1s
California RN union, two others join forces to form new 150K-member association – http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2009/02/16/daily29.html
Nurses’ associations join forces to create giant RN union – http://www.sacbee.com/business/story/1635111.html
Three groups form 150,000-member nurses union – http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20090218/REG/302189989