California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee - History

History

The California Nurses Association was formed in 1903 as the California State Nurses Association.

CNA was the first nurses union in the U.S. to win collective bargaining contracts for nurses. The 1946 agreements, with the East Bay Hospital Conference, included minimum salaries, time-and-a-half pay for overtime, shift differentials for night and weekend work, a 40-hour work week, paid holidays, vacations, and sick leave, and employer-paid health insurance.

In 1976, California established the first in the nation requirements for safe RN staffing by adopting a CNA-sponsored law requiring no more than two patients per RN in intensive care units.

In 1992-1993, CNA established a new model for nursing organizations and unions in response to corporate hospital industry changes that resulted in reduced patient care standards and growing replacement of RNs with unlicensed staff, and the domination of most nursing organizations by nursing executives. Responding to growing demands for forceful protections for nurses and patients by the 90 percent of CNA members who were provided direct patient care, the CNA administration fired 13 CNA staff, including then-collective bargaining director Rose Ann DeMoro, and suspended four top leaders of the elected union arm of CNA. In response, CNA nurses staged a staff nurse revolt, building broad support among California nurses, winning a legal challenge to re-instate the fired staff and suspended leaders, and electing the first staff nurse majority on the CNA board. In September, 1993, the new staff nurse majority took office, and hired DeMoro as CNA Executive Director.

In 1994, CNA began an aggressive challenge to hospital restructuring plans by opposing reductions in care standards, holding educational workshops for nurses across the state, and establishing a national "Patient Watch" program to assist patients harmed by unsafe hospital practices.

In 1995, CNA withdrew from the nurse executive dominated American Nurses Association, a pattern later followed by other state nurses associations.

From 1997-1998, CNA waged a major battle with HMO giant Kaiser Permanente over its efforts to force sweeping contract concessions on RNs with strikes by 7,500 RNs at 47 Kaiser hospitals and clinics in Northern and Central California, and a successful campaign to oppose Kaiser hospital closures in Oakland, Richmond, and Martinez.

In 1999, CNA culminated a long campaign by winning passage of a landmark law, the first in the nation, requiring minimum RN-to-patient staffing ratios in all hospital units.

From 2001-2003, CNA won numerous union elections, especially in large hospital chains run by Catholic Healthcare West and Tenet Healthcare.

In 2004, CNA founded the National Nurses Organizing Committee in response to the requests of direct care RNs across the nation for a stronger voice to improve RN and patient care standards. The CNA website claims the group is the fastest-growing union in the United States, adding that 80,000 RNs are currently members of CNA/NNOC.

In April 2008, the CNA/NNOC clashed with SEIU over an agreement between SEIU and Catholic Healthcare Partners of Ohio. CNA/NNOC labeled the election a "sham." SEIU and Catholic Healthcare Partners cancelled the election for 8,000 workers in 9 Ohio hospitals on whether to have SEIU representation. NNOC contends that the agreement fits SEIU's pattern of forging controversial agreements with employers that sacrifice public protections and workplace standards in exchange for more members. The conflict continued until March, 2009, when CNA/NNOC and SEIU announced that the unions would cooperate to organize hospital employees, with nurses joining the nurses union and other hospital staff joining the SEIU.

National Nurses United established

On February 18, 2009, CNA/NNOC announced that it is joining with two other nurses unions, the Massachusetts Nurses Association and the United American Nurses, to create a 150,000-member union. The organization is called National Nurses United and is affiliated with the AFL-CIO. Deborah Burger, co-president of CNA/NNOC said that the new group is intended to give registered nurses a national voice and more organizing strength.

On December 7, 2009, CNA joined with the Massachusetts Nurses Association and United American Nurses to found National Nurses United, the largest union and professional association of registered nurses in U.S. history. In its founding convention in Phoenix, NNU delegates pledged 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."

In its first year, NNU cited many accomplishments, including:

• Organizing more than 8,000 RNs in Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nevada, Texas, and Washington, DC. • Playing a key role in election campaigns, especially in California where CNA members were influential in helping defeat billionaire Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman and Nevada where CNA and NNU helped defeat Sharron Angle and re-elect Senate Majority leader Harry Reid. The California campaign garnered national attention, especially with the street theater protests featuring a mock Queen Meg to critique Whitman's unprecedented spending and campaign style.

On January 3, 2013, the CNA joined forces with the National Union Of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) to form a new union, NUHW-CNA. Part of the motivation regarding the affiliation is the 2013 election for 43.000 Kaiser service and tech workers currently represented by CNA enemy, SEIU-UHW.