RNs Hold Kickoff at Berkeley City College for ‘Revolutionary’ Calif. Bus Tour

National Nurses United members, who spent months traveling from coast to coast, campaigning for Sen. Bernie Sanders on a bright red #BernieBus—will launch the Bay Area leg of their revolutionary journey with a #BernieBus kickoff event Thurs., May 5 at Berkeley City College.

“This bus tour has been an incredibly moving opportunity for NNU nurses to be on the ground in nearly every primary state, talking to voters,” said Zenei Cortez, RN, Co-President of NNU, who will speak at the event.

“Nurses know—because we have held voters’ hands while they cried, we’ve met their families—why Bernie Sanders is still winning states, as illustrated by his Indiana win. People on the ground are struggling; they want Medicare for all, they want education for all—they want a political system that works for all, and despite mainstream media’s best efforts to sideline Bernie’s campaign, you simply cannot sideline that massive desire for change. It’s California’s turn to vote now, and we are in it to win it.”

#BernieBus Stops for Thursday, May 5

• Morning—Diablo Valley College
• Afternoon—OFFICAL KICKOFF: Berk. City College
• Evening—North Berkeley Farmers Market

The #BernieBus will make a series of Bay Area stops Thursday, including the official 2:30 kickoff event at Berkeley City College, which will feature NNU nurse speakers, local Bernie Sanders supporters, students—and, of course, an opportunity to see the big, red #BernieBus. NNU Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro and former Berkeley Mayor Eugene “Gus” Newport will also speak at the event.

NNU members have been talking to voters since last fall, recently in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky and Oregon. The #BernieBus will travel throughout California in May and early June, ahead of the June 7 California primary.

“Our members will be out all over the state this month, discussing the issues that matter most to Californians and helping to remind people to register to vote by the deadline, May 23,” said Cortez. “We have 90,000 members in this state, and our nurses are excited to have a chance to vote for Bernie Sanders—just as we know California voters are excited to make their voices heard in the call for change."

As the #BernieBus tour has traversed America, nurses have emphasized Sanders’ commitment to guaranteed healthcare for all, assuring equal educational opportunity for all by eliminating public college tuition to drive down student debt, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and creating millions of good paying jobs by rebuilding the nation’s crumbling infrastructure, and broad criminal justice reform, as well as opposition to unfair trade pacts.

National Nurses United is the largest union of nurses in the country, with 186,000 members in 50 states—and was the first national union to endorse Sanders, in August, 2015.

For more information on the Thursday bus stops, call Kari Jones, 510-207-4829

To see photos of the event vist flickr.