For Immediate ReleaseDecember 7, 2009RNs Pledge Major Boost in Organizing, Voice in CongressPHOENIX – To standing cheers, delegates to the founding convention of the National Nurses United (NNU) today unanimously endorsed the creation of the largest union and professional organization of registered nurses in U.S. history – and projected a major escalation in campaigns to expand union representation of nurses and an expanded voice in healthcare reform.”The promise of the future has arrived,” said Karen Higgins, an RN from Massachusetts, and one of three newly elected presidents of the NNU, “with all the unlimited potential, creativity, vision, and power represented” by the delegates in the room, and the 150,000 members of the founding organizations.NNU unites three of the most active, progressive organizations in the U.S.—and the major voices of unionized nurses—in the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, United American Nurses, and Massachusetts Nurses Association.In adopting a constitution and electing national officers, the NNU plans to quickly move forward on an active campaign to:

• Advance the interests of direct care nurses and patients across the U.S.
• Organize all direct care RNs “into a single organization capable of exercising influence over the healthcare industry, governments, and employers.”
• Promote effective collective bargaining representation to all NNU affiliates to promote the economic and professional interests of all direct care RNs.
• Expand the voice of direct care RNs and patients in public policy, including the enactment of safe nurse-to-patient ratios and patient advocacy rights in Congress and every state.
• Win “healthcare justice, accessible, quality healthcare for all, as a human right.”

“This is where we need to be, together as one, moving across the country,” said Jean Ross, secretary-treasurer of the UAN, and new NNU co-president. Read more…

The folks over at the Executive Labor Summary Blog by Constangy Brooks & Smith LLC—management lawyers have noticed that the nurses have been up to something:”The stage is now set for the formation of a new 150,000-member super union for registered nurses at a founding convention in December. The new union, which will be called National Nurses United, combines the membership of the California Nurses Association, the United American Nurses and the Massachusetts Nurses Association. Deborah Burger, co-president of California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, has proclaimed, “This is a truly historic moment and I hope it sends chills down the backs of those employers who would want to keep us down.’”Indeed. Read more…