Nurses and Activists From Across U.S. to March Tuesday in Chicago to Defend Their Rights to Unionize, Advocate for Patients

Some 200 or more registered nurses and other working people from California to Maine will hold a march and rally in Chicago next Tuesday, August 8 to protest an imminent threat to nurses' democratic rights to union representation and their ability to safely advocate for their patients.

The protest begins with a rally at Daley Plaza followed by a march to the headquarters of the American Hospital Association, the national umbrella of the hospital industry. The AHA is pushing for a ruling, expected any day, from the federal labor board that could declare hundreds of thousands of RNs as "supervisors," and thus ineligible for union representation, and the protection it provides for their patient advocacy.

When:Tuesday, August 8

Rally:11 a.m., Daley Plaza, 100 N. Dearborn

March:12 noon to American Hospital Association headquarters,

1 N. Franklin

Sponsored by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC), the action will be joined by scores of nurses from other nurses' organizations and activists from other unions and health care advocacy groups.

Participating organizations include the Massachusetts Nurses Association, Chicago Jobs With Justice, Maine State Nurses Association/NNOC, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers, Nurses Professional Organization- Kentucky/NNOC, Physicians for a National Health Program, Communication Workers of America District 4, United Steel Workers District 7, and Pennsylvania Assn. of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals.

At issue is an imminent decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which the Bush Administration has stacked with management attorneys and members who are hostile to unions, on a series of pending cases. The AHA, joined by the national Chamber of Commerce and other corporate interests, want to eliminate the rights of nurses and other lead employees who assign and delegate work to others to form and join unions.

For nurses, the decision could unfairly strip the ability of RNs to advocate for their patients, without the threat of retaliation, and their colleagues, threatening patient safety and prompting chaos in hospitals across the country.