Labor Relations Monitor - Generic: Independent Nurses Union in Pennsylvania Affiliates With California Nurses Association

The 5,100-member independent Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP) has affiliated with the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, leaders of both unions announced Jan. 10.

With the affiliation, CNA/NNOC now will represent more than 80,000 registered nurses in all 50 states, according to CNA/NNOC Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro. She added that her union now is the largest representing nurses in the United States.

The two unions have been working together for nearly eight years. PASNAP was created in May 2000 when nurses left the Pennsylvania State Education Association to form an independent union in alliance with CNA, which provided financial support to get the union started (105 DLR C-1, 5/31/00).

PASNAP is committed to organizing staff nurses and other allied professionals throughout Pennsylvania, PASNAP President Patty Eakin told a press teleconference. Since PASNAP was created it has increased its membership by about 40 percent, and the affiliation with CNA will help the union organize even more nurses, she said.

The affiliation allows PASNAP to increase its opportunities to improve the working lives of nurses and the care they provide to patients, Eakin said. She added that CNA/NNOC won nurse-patient staffing ratios in California, something the nurses in Pennsylvania also want to achieve.

Budget to Grow.

PASNAP Executive Director Bill Cruice told BNA that the union has grown significantly over the years and he expects the affiliation to amplify the growth. He added that the affiliation will give the union more resources to increase its organizing efforts. Currently, PASNAP spends about 35 percent to 40 percent of its budget on organizing, or about $500,000 annually, he added.

When asked how much that budget will increase, DeMoro answered that CNA/NNOC has “a considerable amount of resources,” and the PASNAP budget will increase to “whatever it takes.”

According to Cruice, the density of RNs organized in Pennsylvania is about 20 percent, with PASNAP representing nearly half of those who are organized. DeMoro added that Pennsylvania has the third largest number of nurses in the country so there are a lot of nurses that are not organized.

DeMoro said the affiliation of PASNAP is part of an effort to unite “like-minded” groups of nurses into “one powerful national organization” that can affect the lives of nurses as well as their patients.

In her remarks, Aiken said PASNAP is pleased that it will become part of the AFL-CIO through its affiliation with CNA/NNOC and looks forward to “participating in all levels of the AFL-CIO.”

“We will benefit by gaining additional leverage in contract negotiations as well as in our political efforts,” Aiken added.

AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney issued a statement welcoming the affiliation.

“With such deep problems in health care and such tremendous challenges facing working people, there is no more important time for nurses to unite for a stronger voice. The joining together of these two aggressive unions for registered nurses is great news,” he added.