Contact your Senator to continue saying ‘No’ on Fast Track

The House of Representatives passage of Fast Track trade authority was a betrayal of public health, American workers, and our very democracy—and nurses will be standing their ground as it moves on to the Senate, National Nurses United (NNU) announced today.


“The vote to move Fast Track forward represents another blow to the American public by those elected leaders who seem to believe it is their role to serve multinational corporations and Wall Street, rather than the people,” said NNU Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro. “Nurses, along with other union members, working families, environmentalists, student and faith organizations—a very broad coalition of Americans—will now shift our fight to the Senate, and strongly urge Senators to vote ‘No’ on putting corporate profits above public health.”


Nurses have been mobilizing for months against Fast Track authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which threatens to give pharmaceutical companies the ability to inflate lifesaving medication costs and corporations the power to overturn environmental and food safety regulations.


The House stalled Fast Track last week and the slick maneuvers used to bring it back did not go unnoticed by the millions of Americans who are against Fast Track’s ability to rubber stamp risky trade agreements. Americans will look back on this moment—when medication costs, environmental and food safety regulations, and workers’ jobs were on the line—and remember who stood with the people, nurses say.


“We want to thank those Congress Members who stood firm and voted against this bill, which will harm our patients and our communities,” says NNU Co-President Jean Ross. “We now strongly urge all U.S. Senators to reject this cynical ploy to undermine the public’s health and our democracy when the bill comes to the Senate floor. Nurses will fight every step of the way to ensure that present and future leaders are held accountable to the resonant voice of those who elected them—not to corporate interests.”