Portside

The pandemic pushed University of Michigan nurses to the breaking point, as supervisors forced overtime work to account for understaffing. So nurses organized through their union, winning a contract that should inspire nurses everywhere.

A three-day strike by Wisconsin nurses is off this week, after SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin and UW Health (the University of Wisconsin's medical system) reached an agreement on a path toward the potential recognition of the union.

On March 6, 1,600 registered nurses petitioned the NLRB to form a union, kickstarting one of the largest union campaigns in the country today. North Carolina is the second-least unionized state in the U.S.

While many national unions have stayed neutral, more progressive-minded local unions and labor groups are coming out in force for the Vermont senator.

As a result nurses are working endless additional shifts usually without rest. In fact, 3,940 times in the past 12 months nurses had to work for longer than 12 hours because there was no one to relieve them.

New NLRB rules quicken the union election process between petitioning the NLRB for an election and the election itself - leaving less time, the unions say, for union-busting intimidation.

While there are clear correlations between structural racism in the criminal justice system and economic and social justice, each area is also a clear and present danger to life and health, as well as an infringement on the human rights of those affected and on American democracy. As nurses, we are dedicated to preventing all forms of illness, protecting health, and alleviating human suffering.