Blog

Let's call it Un-Labor Day

In honor of the latest dreary news that exactly zero net jobs were created in August, the corporate CEOs who ship our jobs overseas, and the budget cutters in Washington whose priorities lie elsewhere, let’s just rechristen the September holiday “Un-Labor” Day.

National Nurses Movement

How the Media Distorts Coverage of Social Security

Here are some headlines you won't see after the government releases new figures on Social Security and Medicare later today: "Social Security Trust Fund Even Larger Than It Was Last Year." "Growing Wealth Inequity Will Lead to Social Security Imbalance Later This Century." "For-Profit Healthcare Poses Threat to Medicare, Federal Deficit, and Overall Economy in Coming Decades." Instead here's what we've already seen: "Aging workforce strains Social Security, Medicare."

NNU Blog via Portside

RNs at Manhattan VA Spreading the Word on Patient Care

It started strong on the streets of midtown Manhattan. By 9 am, 30 RNs had distributed 1,000 leaflets outside the Manhattan VA Hospital, part of the New York Harbor Healthcare System, to a very interested and concerned community.

NNU Blog

Robin Hood for Treasury Secretary. The gift that keeps on giving!

Who wins: Robin Hood or the Grinch? On December 20th, help us deliver this message to the White House: Heal America. Re-Build the American Dream. Tax Wall Street! Call and share: 202-456-1414.

National Nurses United

Massachusetts Nurses Association RN Board Member Responds to Boston Bombing Victims

Betty, who was on the ground to help victims after Hurricane Katrina and in Haiti after the devastating earthquake, was working at the medical tent at the finish line of the Boston Marathon yesterday, and she was there to respond and care for the victims when the bombs exploded. “I never had to run out to victims before where one of them could have been someone I knew, a member of my family,” she wrote in an email after the event.

Massachusetts Nurses Association

Global Day of Action by Nurses, Healthcare Workers in 13 Countries

United call for Robin Hood Tax--Major nurse and healthcare union organizations marched, rallied, and held other actions in 13 countries Tuesday in the first coordinated global day of action in a call to stop the harmful effects of austerity measures, cuts in health care services, improved patient care, and economic healing and recovery.

Global Nurses United

200 Kaiser RNs Rally to Protest Downgrading of Care for New Oakland Hospital

More than 200 Kaiser Permanente RNs rallied outside the Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center Thursday afternoon to sound a public alarm about patient care reductions the HMO giant is proposing for its new Oakland facility which is expected to open this summer. Waving signs that mocked Kaiser’s multi-million dollar “Thrive” campaign with an RN adaptation: “Kaiser executives: Our patients should thrive not be deprived,” the RNs described substantial problems with short staffing and cuts that come at a time when Kaiser is making record profits and adding 95,000 new enrollees through the Affordable Care Act exchanges.

By Deborah Burger, RN

Climate Crisis a Public-Health Emergency Too: Why Nurses Will Join Climate March Sept. 21

For registered nurses the climate crisis is a clear and present public-health emergency as well as a creeping bomb for our planet -- and they draw a direct link between extreme forms of energy extraction and the horrific impacts they see on human health.

Deborah Burger, RN via The Huffington Post

Nurses Stand in Solidarity with Steelworkers Amid Safety Concerns

NNU is especially alarmed at the serious threat for workers and residents of local communities near the refineries posed by unsafe staffing levels, excessive worker overtime demands, and the reports of daily occurrences of fires, emissions, leaks and explosions that put tens of thousands of people in danger.

National Nurses United

Fast Track/TPP Stalled Today. We Must Kill it for Good!

Nurses and supporters have never had a more critical time to hold our ground! In an important vote, Fast Track authority was stalled on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives today. But the corporate opponents of public health are pushing for a reconsideration either on Monday or Tuesday. We must act this weekend to stop Fast Track for good—as it could pave the way for corporations to overturn nurse-to-patient ratios, for medication costs to skyrocket, and other public health threats.

National Nurses United