Largest U.S. RN Union Ever to Promote Safer Care, RN Rights, AFL-CIO President to Keynote First Convention in Phoenix
The day has come. Eight months in the planning, delegates from the nation’s most prominent direct-care RN organizations will gather in Phoenix Monday, December 7 for the founding convention of the new 150,000-member National Nurses United, the largest RN union and professional association in U.S. history.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka will deliver a keynote address to the convention which will chart a course for the building of a more powerful RN national movement to expand patient protections, improve RN standards, and increase RN representation.
Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions President Linda Silas, RN, will also speak. NNU delegates will hold their first public rally on Tuesday morning outside the offices of the Arizona Hospital Association to step up the campaign for RN rights and representation.
What: National Nurses United Founding Convention
When: Monday, December 7
Where: Phoenix Convention Center, Grand Ballroom, 50 E. Adams St., Phoenix, Ariz.
Press Schedule
Keynote addresses:
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, NNU Leaders, Canadian Federation of Nurses Union President Linda Silas, RN- Monday, 9 a.m., Convention Center Grand Ballroom
Panel Presentations on the Challenges Facing RNs: Monday, 1 p.m., Convention Center Grand Ballroom
Rally at offices of Arizona Hospital Association for RN Rights and Representation- Tuesday, December 8, 11 a.m., 2901 N. Central Ave.
National Nurses United brings together the leading voices of direct-care RNs from coast to coast now represented by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, United American Nurses, and the Massachusetts Nurses Association.
It will unify nurses from Hawaii to Maine who are pledged to work together on an ambitious campaign that includes:
- Expanding RN union representation for tens of thousands of non-union nurses.
- Passing national legislation, including S 1031 that would establish minimum RN-to-patient staffing ratios, protecting the role of RN as patient advocate, and creating a federal program to promote nursing education and retention.
- Coordinating national efforts to defend and improve RN standards and patient care conditions for nurses and patients in hospitals across the country.
- Building alliances with sister nurse organizations around the world.
The Phoenix convention culminates months of preparation dating back to last February when the three organizations announced plans to pursue unification.
In May, CNA/NNOC, UAN, and MNA cosponsored, with several other nurses organizations, the first National RN Day of Action in Washington, D.C. that featured a march and rally in the shadow of the Capitol for ratios and guaranteed healthcare and a presentation by S 1031 author Sen. Barbara Boxer.
Support for the unification followed this fall with resolutions adopted separately in convention by each of the three organizations.
At the Phoenix convention, delegates will elect a three-member NNU Council of Presidents, and discuss a vision of building RN power for the future of nursing and patient care.
Contacts:
CNA/NNOC: Charles Idelson, 510.273.2246, 415.559.8991 (cell), Shum Preston, 510.273.2276, Liz Jacobs, 510.273.2232
Massachusetts: David Schildmeier, 781.830.5717, 781.249.0430 (cell)
Michigan: Mary Holbrook, 517.230.4086
Minnesota: Jan Rabbers, 651.414.2861, 612.860.6658 (cell)
UAN- Suzanne Martin, 240.821.1825
