On Oct. 5, hundreds of nurses from all over Calif. gathered in front of Good Samaritan Hospital near downtown Los
|
By 11:30 a.m., spirits were high as the nurses marched in a long picket line, carrying signs that read “Our Union is Our Voice,” and chanting, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Kentucky River has got to go!” This was a reference to the Oct. 3 National Labor Relations Board decision in the “Kentucky River” cases. The decision said that charge nurses are “supervisors” under labor law, thereby making them ineligible to join unions.
As part of a broad strategy to fight these anti-worker policies and decisions, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee staged actions that day in five cities across the country—Los Angeles, Chicago, St. Louis, Louisville and Bangor, Me. In Los Angeles, other progressive groups and labor unions joined the nurses, such as the Service Employees International Union, the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) and the ACLU.
After a vibrant picket, the crowd of more than 400 people marched through downtown to the offices of the NLRB, chanting all the way. Participants particularly enjoyed chanting, “We’re gonna beat back the Bush attack,” while beating on their placards in rhythm with the chant. The march received enormous support from passersby, who honked and waved in support of the nurses and their fight.
The march ended with a rally in front of the NLRB offices, where a leader of the CNA/NNOC advised that “if George Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger think that they can interfere with a nurse and her patient’s care, they’d better think again.”
