California Nurses Association Pushes for Health Care Reform
The California Nurses Association has propelled its statewide influence and success onto the national level by joining campaigns for universal health care and related issues, the Los Angeles Times reports.
CNA since the mid-1990s has grown from about 17,000 members to a 325,000-member organization that recently joined the ALF-CIO.
The union has fought successfully against hospitals and elected officials over wages, hours and nurse-to-patient staffing ratios. As a result, the union launched an effort to organize nurses nationwide, including Maine and Illinois (Girion, Los Angeles Times, 9/11).
CNA on Monday began its convention in Sacramento with a rally for universal health care. The union backs legislation (SB 840) to create a state-run, single-payer health care system in California.
CNA also has partnered with Physicians for a National Health Plan and filmmaker Michael Moore to lobby for HR 676, a federal bill that would establish a universal health care system nationwide (Richman, Oakland Tribune, 9/10).