An Important Message of Unity
to Our RN Colleagues

One of the guiding beliefs and principles of our union is that we are stronger- and the concerns of RNs and our patients are better served- when we stand together in unity.

Because we are united with the 300,000 healthcare members of 1199SEIU, we have been able to win the highest job standards and advocate for our patients. And it is the strength of all 1199 members united together that has allowed us to expand coverage for the uninsured, protect healthcare funding and advance our professional practice.

But being part of 1199SEIU is not only about strength, it is also about making sure the individual voice of every RN member is heard. We have built Professional Practice Committees in every chapter to make sure our voices are heard in our facilities. And we have almost 300 RN delegates that, together with our RN Council, represent the interests of our 15,000 RN members within our union and before government and regulatory agencies.

Our vision of unity extends beyond the East Coast; we believe that RNs across the nation should work together towards achieving our shared goals. Last year, we took steps to consider affiliation with the United American Nurses (UAN), in the belief that RNs are stronger when we speak with one voice.

Sadly, our vision of unity is under attack by The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA). During the affiliation talks with the UAN, NYSNA officials tried to undermine the process at every step, and secretly decided to disaffiliate from the UAN without a vote of NYSNA membership. Now, NYSNA and an allied organization, the California Nurses Association, have been spreading nasty, underhanded misinformation to our members.

NYSNA officials are upset because some of their members voted to join 1199SEIU, and now they are trying to take their revenge. In May, RNs at Peninsula Hospital in New York City voted overwhelmingly to leave NYSNA and join 1199SEIU. Those RNs had been deeply dissatisfied with NYSNA for many years, particularly because NYSNA had failed to achieve retirement benefits and basic economic security for their members.

NYSNA’s philosophy is that RNs should be isolated and alone in a separate union, and this approach has resulted in vastly lower job standards, a weakened voice, and a diminished standing before government bodies for NYSNA members. The CNA shares this same approach of division and disunity, and the two organizations have been traveling around the country sabotaging union elections and crushing the hopes of RNs and other healthcare workers trying to join SEIU. NYSNA and the CNA are so misguided, they have sunk so low, that they would rather nurses remain non-union than join SEIU. What kind of a so-called “union” would actively deny nurses a voice and the power to change their lives?

We will not let NYSNA and the CNA’s tactics derail our positive, forward-looking and morally just vision. We are more united and determined than ever before to stand up for our patients, protect RN professional practice, unite nurses together into our union, and win quality, affordable healthcare for all. And with the strongest union in the country, 1199SEIU, we know we can.

In Unity,

Your Colleagues on the 1199SEIU RN Council