CNA Authorizes Exploration of Affiliation With AFL-CIO
Members of the California Nurses Association on Friday voted to authorize union leaders to consider affiliating with AFL-CIO, the Sacramento Bee reports. Affiliating with the labor federation could take several months, should CNA decide to proceed.
According to the Bee, the move would end CNA's "10-year history of independence" after its break with the American Nurses Association.
CNA Executive Director Rose Ann De Moro on Friday said the union would abide by AFL-CIO rules that prohibit affiliated unions from competing with one another for members. De Moro said, "We don't think we can achieve a single-payer health care system without a unified labor movement," adding, "We need partners across the country."
However, California Hospital Association spokesperson Jan Emerson said of CNA, "All their assertions are not about improving patient care," adding, "It's about forming a national nurses' union" (Osterman, Sacramento Bee, 9/24).