This is the next post in our series that will take a deeper look at each of our affiliates. The series will run weekly until we've covered all 65 of our affiliates. Next up is National Nurses United (NNU).
Name of Union: National Nurses United
Mission: NNU is building a militant, class-conscious, national movement of direct-care nurses through union organizing to win health care justice; guaranteed quality health care for all as a human right; major national legislation to promote comprehensive, mandatory RN-to-patient staffing ratios modeled on California’s successful law sponsored by NNU affiliate California Nurses Association; robust protections against workplace violence, with an emphasis on prevention through collective bargaining agreements, regulations and legislation at the federal level; mandatory health and safety standards in the workplace to protect patients and nurses against infectious diseases such as COVID-19; and regulatory policy and collective bargaining agreements that guarantee nurses the education, training and personal protective equipment they need at work.
Current Leadership of Union: Puneet Maharaj serves as executive director of NNU, as well as executive director of NNU’s largest founding affiliate, California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC). Before being named executive director, Maharaj held multiple roles, including as a labor representative and director of national political and government relations.
NNU is ultimately governed by an elected 19-member RN Executive Council that is headed by a Council of Presidents consisting of RNs Jamie Brown, Nancy Hagans, Cathy Kennedy and Mary Turner.
Number of Members: 225,000
Members Work As: Primarily direct-care registered nurses, as well as some other hospital workers.
Industries Represented: Public and private medical institutions from major university hospitals to small-town community hospitals to hospitals run by the nation’s largest for-profit health care chains and some Veterans Health Administration facilities.
History: With more than 225,000 members across the country, NNU stands as the largest union and professional association of registered nurses in U.S. history.
National Nurses United was founded in 2009 to build a powerful national movement of direct-care registered nurses. NNU unified three of the most active progressive nursing organizations. The vision resulting from the founding convention focused on advancing the interests of direct-care nurses and patients and winning health care justice for all.
Over the past decade, NNU and its affiliates have achieved significant success. In addition to those states represented by its affiliates, NNU members now include thousands of registered nurses in Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Nevada, Texas, Missouri, North Dakota and Arizona and have achieved immense success even in states traditionally considered hostile to union organizing. NNU has organized tens of thousands of nurses, making it one of the most successful organizing unions in the United States. NNU members focus on negotiating strong collective bargaining agreements that set the highest workplace, bedside practice and economic standards for cities, states and the entire country. In the legislative arena, NNU sponsors major federal legislation, including national safe RN-to-patient staffing ratios, a bill to improve and expand Medicare for All in the United States, and stronger protections against workplace violence.
Current Campaigns: NNU currently has numerous active campaigns, including unionizing nurses all across the country; winning national RN-to-patient ratios; preventing workplace violence; advancing Medicare for All; and advocating for health and safety, environmental justice, social justice and equity, CalCare, gig workers’ rights, and AI protections in nursing and against dangerous Home All Alone patient care programs.
Community Efforts: NNU nurses believe that allying with our patients and the public is key to winning our goal of health care justice, often working in coalition with local communities. On a national and global scale, NNU’s Registered Nurse Response Network sends registered nurse volunteers to disaster-impacted areas to provide assistance and emergency care. Nurses have helped victims of floods, earthquakes and fires across the United States, including Puerto Rico, as well as in the Bahamas, Haiti, the Philippines and Guatemala. The Nurse Advocacy Network is an activist network of nurses, health care workers, patients and community supporters who mobilize for patient care protections and health care justice. NNU publishes National Nurse Magazine. You can buy branded merchandise in the NNU online store.
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