Don’t let them silence us

Over the years, we have joined together to successfully fight for better pay and working conditions. We have fought back against things like unsafe staffing schemes, intermittent rest breaks and mandatory overtime that put profits before patients and make it harder for us to give our patients the care they deserve. As active members of WSNA, we have the power in numbers to advocate for our patients and what we need to care for them in a healthy and safe way, pushing hospitals to address safe staffing, workplace violence, safe lifting and other workplace issues.

But real freedom is about more than making a living and doing our jobs well; it’s also about having time to take a loved one to the doctor or nurse practitioner, attend a parent-teacher conference and retire in dignity. We need the power in numbers of unions to protect things our families need like health benefits and paid time off to care for our loved ones.

Wealthy special interests and corporate lobbyists are chipping away at all we have gained. Over the past several years, corporate special interests have launched unprecedented attacks against the freedom of working people to form strong unions, most recently urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a case called Janus v. AFSCME that takes aim at the ability of working people to join together and speak up for themselves, their families and their communities. They want to take away our ability to collect dues at public facilities and weaken our union, opening the way for hospital CEOs to increase patient loads, lower wages and reduce benefits. They want to silence us.

A decision from the Supreme Court is expected this spring. At issue is whether public-sector workers-—including nurses at public hospitals, health departments and veterans’ homes—should be allowed to quit paying their fair share for the work we do to negotiate and enforce good contracts, while continuing to benefit from union representation. If that happens, expect outside groups to come into your workplaces or even to your front doors offering to teach you how to drop out. They want to weaken us so they can take away better working conditions, pay and benefits for which we have worked so hard. They want to take away your ability to effectively advocate for your patients and our profession.

We can protect our rights and our power by continuing to stand together as active WSNA members. Working people like nurses deserve the same freedom hospital and corporate CEOs have-—the freedom to negotiate a fair return on our work so we can provide for our families and have better working conditions that allow us to give patients our best.