As an RN of 29 years and a CNA/NNOC RN who witnessed the dramatic vote for change by St. Rose Las Vegas RNs, who voted by 53% for CNA/NNOC, I am proud to post this diary today.

In the last few years, America's RNs have formed--at last--a National Nurses' Movement, with the creation of the first national union of RNs.  So far we are 80,000 RNs banding together for guaranteed healthcare, nursing practice, and a progressive labor movement, and that number grows daily.  As patient advocates we believe that this is the only path towards making sure that every one of our patients get the care they deserve.

You may know CNA/NNOC for its political profile, but it is the nurse organizing that has allowed us to make a difference for RNs across the country.  Here's a quick update on the incredible progress we're making just this week:

Intro
You must enter an Intro for your Diary Entry between 300 and 1150 characters long.
As an RN of 29 years and a CNA/NNOC RN who witnessed the dramatic vote for change by St. Rose Las Vegas RNs, who voted by 53% for CNA/NNOC, I am proud to post this diary today.

In the last few years, America's RNs have formed--at last--a National Nurses' Movement, with the creation of the first national union of RNs.  So far we are 80,000 RNs banding together for guaranteed healthcare, nursing practice, and a progressive labor movement, and that number grows daily.  As patient advocates we believe that this is the only path towards making sure that every one of our patients get the care they deserve.

You may know CNA/NNOC for its political profile, but it is the nurse organizing that has allowed us to make a difference for RNs across the country.  Here's a quick update on the incredible progress we're making just this week:

There's more...

The California Nurses Association's temporary restraining order (TRO) against SEIU was vacated today (4/22). But what is more interesting is how the TRO was obtained in the first place.

CNA said "5 male staffers" were "harassing and stalking" CNA Board members." As video footage proved, the "stalkers" were actually two middle-aged women taking time off from their jobs at Catholic Healthcare Partners hospitals in Ohio to talk to CNA board members about how their top employee, Rose Ann Demoro, is leading an effort to stop them from organizine a union with SEIU.

Here's the footage of what CNA calls "5 male staffers":

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGw2QJTgw4I

In recent weeks I have been stunned by the California Nurses Association's fantastical relationship with the truth.

I spent the last three years (as an SEIU/District 1199 staffer) working on the CHP organizing campaign in Ohio, and I was here when CHP workers won the right to have a election free from management interference. The women on the video, an RN and a respiratory therapist, have something to be proud of. To win a neutrality agreement from the 6th largest employer in Ohio takes a hell of a fight. But then came something awful.

When CNA got its TRO, they were trying to stop the the CHP workers in the video from talking to members of the California Nurses Association about what happened next.

After no participation whatsoever in a public, three-year campaign, around 36 CNA staffers showed up six days before the biggest union elections in Ohio history, to run a full-fledged anti-union campaign. They did what the boss agreed not to do. They lied to workers, calling the union, "sleazy,""illegal," a "company union," a "dictatorship;" saying the union wanted to "silence RNs", to "gag RNs," to "force RNs into a non-RN union," and to "deny RNs a choice." The CNA called union leaders "chauvenists" and sought to paint union staff as male perpetrators of violence against women. They insulted and diminished non-RNs, saying RNs ought not organize with "housekeepers and dietary workers."

CNA organizers snuck into CHP hospitals, hijacked the tube system and called nurses inside the hospital, interfering with patient care. They leafleted outside the hospitals during shift changes, and called workers night and day at their homes for one reason only: over and over, the CNA told workers to VOTE NO, to vote AGAINST unionizing.

One CNA organizer was arrested, and CHP got a (real) restraining order but the damage was done. Workers talked about a poisoned environment, fear and confusion.

Since last month, over and over I am confronted with the CNA's total disregard for labor solidarity, and utter contempt for the truth.

Right now, CNA is raiding and seeking to break SEIU and AFSCME unions in California, Nevada and Texas. It's incredibly destructive.

I hold out one real hope - that CHP workers will not be shut down by CNA's misguided leadership; that they will tell their stories to rank-and-file CNA members; and that rank-and-file members of the CNA will support their sisters and brothers in Ohio by standing up to Rose Ann Demoro.

There's more...

The California Nurses Association won a restraining order against the Service Employees International Union on April 18 after reports of widespread physical abuse by members of the SEIU was documented against members of the mostly female rival union.

This video is from the cna href=http://www.calnurse.org/ website:

<object width="425" height="355"></object>

There's more...

On the heels of a series of incidents in California where female nurses have been followed and harassed by mostly male SEIU staffers, and in the wake of SEIU's violent attack on the peaceful Labor Notes conference, a California Superior Court has issued a temporary restraining order against Andy Stern, President of SEIU, and his staff, ordering them to stay away from nurses with the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee.  

Stern will appear in court on May 1st for a hearing on whether to issue a permanent restraining order.SEIU claims its actions are in retaliation for a disputed election in Ohio where Catholic Healthcare Partners filed for an election to choose SEIU as their company union.  

SEIU's recent actions makes clear why RNs around the country do not have a good opinion of their organization.

The story is in the LA Times: URL: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me- nurses17apr17,1,1579801.story

California nurses union gets restraining order against SEIU - Los Angeles Times

There's more...

The New York Times and Wall St. Journal both cover the incredible events at Saturday's Labor Notes conference in Michigan, where Andy Stern of SEIU International sent busload of male staffers to chase and harass RNs from the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, in retaliation for CNA/NNOC defeating them in a controversial "company union" vote last month in Ohio.  Fortunately the targeted RNs were able to escape out a back door, but other conference-goers were not so lucky, with one woman sent to the hospital, and others punched, kicked, slapped, and shoved.

There's more...