Nurses aboard National Nurses United’s #BernieBus have been connecting with voters throughout Wisconsin this week, listening to the issues that impact residents’ lives, and will be heading to Madison and Janesville on Sunday for a get out the vote push for Bernie Sanders, ahead of Tuesday’s primary.

 “I have a daughter in college in Madison, and as a parent—with Scott Walker’s cuts to education—I’m getting letters at home, asking for donations to keep Wisconsin schools going,” said Jennifer Michelson, RN, a Minnesota nurse, who has been traveling with the #BernieBus. “We’re already paying significant tuition, and that’s true for so many students and families we’ve talked to in Wisconsin, who are going into debt over the cost of a degree. I’m excited that Bernie Sanders supports free education at public colleges and universities for all Americans.”

Bernie Bus Stops for Sunday, April 2, 2016

JANESVILLE

Morning: Family Fest at Janesville Performing Art Center

MADISON

Afternoon: Field & Stream Expo, Alliant Energy Center

Afternoon: Bernie Sanders Rally at the Kohl Center Arena

Please contact Elise Nabors for specific times, places to connect with bus: 510-219-6252

According to a recent study by University of Wisconsin-Madison Applied Population Laboratory, poverty in Wisconsin increased 20 percent between 2010 and 2014—and the Wisconsin Budget Project found that half of Wisconsin adults in poverty work, but don't earn enough. To that end, Nurses on the #BernieBus say Wisconsin residents they're meeting are concerned about jobs—including fellow RNs with whom they’ve had the opportunity to speak, during their travels through the state.

“I support Bernie for all his issues, but I was so excited when I found out he supports nurses,” says Milwaukee resident Lisa Granica, RN—who spent time talking to the #BernieBus nurses about working conditions for Wisconsin RNs, as well as about Bernie’s support for national safe staffing laws for nurses. “In Wisconsin, we have no staffing ratios. The last corporate job I had, it was 40 patients to 1 nurse. This is unsafe. They’re also cutting experienced nurses to get them off payroll. We need experienced nurses in our hospitals. Bernie supports the nurses, and I support Bernie.”

National Nurses United, with over 185,000 members from all 50 states, is the largest organization of registered nurses in the U.S. and the first union to endorse Sanders, in August last year. Since then, NNU members have been organizing house parties, rallies and phone banks, and mobilizing door-to-door efforts in support of Sanders.

 “From Nevada to New Hampshire, from Colorado to South Carolina, RNs have talked to voters and been reminded of the huge gaps in access to healthcare and education, concerns about retirement security, the jobs lost due to unfair trade deals, widespread inequality, and the escalating climate crisis,” said RoseAnn DeMoro, NNU Executive Director. “Bernie Sanders and the legions of grassroots activists around the U.S. who have joined him will not stop. The political revolution is just beginning.”