National Nurses United/NNU/AFL-CIO, California Nurses Association/CNA, National Nurses Organizing Committee/NNOC.
How can a labor union by any other name so misrepresent the profession of Registered Nursing?
The California Nurses Association (CNA), through its various aliases, National Nurses United (NNU) and National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC), has exploited the falsehood for a decade. The falsehood is that the CNA has negotiated staffing ratios into virtually all agreements between itself and hospitals around the country. While staffing is an acknowledged, widespread issue among Registered Nurses, this union has been unsuccessful in its attempt to add language to collective bargaining agreements that establish rigid staffing ratios.
Instead, the CNA has hitchhiked on the California staffing ratio law and claimed the application of that law as an agreed upon element of its labor agreements. In truth, virtually no employer, including those in California, has agreed to the union’s demands.
This union claims to be the spiritual representative of all Registered Nurses; an interesting claim given that the spiritual leader of CNA is a former Teamster’s official.
Our purpose is to provide information to nurses who are considering voting for or joining this union. There is a lot to be said about the California Nurses Association, and only a truly independent voice can speak with veracity.