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Speaker 1: Also media, Welcome to Jack it Apping here, a podcast

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Speaker 1: about things falling apart and putting it back together again.

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Speaker 1: We're going fasten this intro because we have a lot

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Speaker 1: of stuff to get to and the thing that we

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Speaker 1: have a lot of stuff to get to about is

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Speaker 1: the election for candidates for the Council of Presidents for

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Speaker 1: National Nurses United. And in order to talk about that,

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Speaker 1: I guess the reason we're talking about that, I you know, okay,

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Speaker 1: I I should should have ran this one through in

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Speaker 1: my head before we started this. But yeah, I'm here

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Speaker 1: today with John, Jahead and Rosa to talk about Yeah,

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Speaker 1: there's slate movement thing I don't know called Shift Change

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Speaker 1: and why they're running, how they met, et cetera, et cetera,

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Speaker 1: and yeah, some other stuff about the union. So all

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Speaker 1: three of you, welcome to the show.

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Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you, thank you for having us.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. So, I guess the place we should start for

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Speaker 1: this for so, we talked to Shift Change last year,

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Speaker 1: but I think for people who don't remember that or

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Speaker 1: you know, I mean, it's been god, I don't know,

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Speaker 1: I don't know how long I've lost track of time.

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Speaker 1: Can you explain a bit about what you're running for,

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Speaker 1: and I mean specifically what it is, sort of how

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Speaker 1: it works.

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Speaker 3: I'll just start real quick, like in cases it's not clear.

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Speaker 3: We're all members of a large national nurses union called

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Speaker 3: National Nurses United, and so we're from individual parts of

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Speaker 3: that union, which is kind of an umbrella over California

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Speaker 3: Nurses Association and National Nurses Organizing Committee, which I'm a

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Speaker 3: part of, Brazil as a part of Minnesota Nurses Association,

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Speaker 3: which jahead, is a part of NAISNA, which is New

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Speaker 3: York State nurs Association, which Sanya Greena is a part of.

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Speaker 3: And then we also have Michigan Nurses Association and the

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Speaker 3: DC Nurses Association and our group Shift Change is like

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Speaker 3: a caucus, which is like whenever workers instead of a

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Speaker 3: union get together because they want to change how the

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Speaker 3: union works. And we're running what's something called a slate

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Speaker 3: where we have to have groups of people running together

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Speaker 3: for specific union offices, and so we have a lot

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Speaker 3: of people running, not just US three or US four

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Speaker 3: for the council presidents, but we also have candidates running

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Speaker 3: for the board of vice presidents and also delegates for

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Speaker 3: our convention, and hopefully that's a good basis for this

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Speaker 3: starting off the conversation.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so, I guess the first question I wanted to ask,

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Speaker 1: because I think this is an interesting story, is how

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Speaker 1: how did you three meet? Because this is a mostly

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Speaker 1: a very different group of people from last time.

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Speaker 2: How did we meet? Oh? My, that is a good story.

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Speaker 4: So if you're not aware, or if you've been living

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Speaker 4: under a rock, you know, there's a lot of violence

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Speaker 4: that's happening in the world, and specifically there's violence that's

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Speaker 4: happening in Palestine. And John, I and Jahad all met

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Speaker 4: as nurses who were looking to really be involved in

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Speaker 4: Palestine solidarity.

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Speaker 2: Work, and so we were met on a space.

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Speaker 4: We connected there and you know, our politics pretty much

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Speaker 4: aligned that we believe that oppressed people should be liberated,

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Speaker 4: and that was one of the largest ways that we

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Speaker 4: met each other and we became I mean, I.

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Speaker 2: Feel like Jahad and John are part of my family. Definitely.

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Speaker 4: We have really connected on the solidarity front for that,

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Speaker 4: but also as nurses organizing and really seeing where the

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Speaker 4: false law fault lines are within our own union.

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Speaker 1: We haven't talked about specifically the nurses organizing has been

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Speaker 1: going on for Palestine solidarity stuff on the show before

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Speaker 1: it's really interesting.

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Speaker 5: Even though we haven't met in person yet, we're looking

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Speaker 5: forward to meeting in April at the Labor Notes conference.

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Speaker 5: But despite the fact that we haven't met in person,

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Speaker 5: there is a lot of chemistry among the group, and

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Speaker 5: we have a lot of similar visions, and especially when

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Speaker 5: it came to organizing for Palestine. So I joined Resita

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Speaker 5: and John and others and Nurses for Palestine chat group

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Speaker 5: and that group is active in highlighting the suffering of

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Speaker 5: the Palestinian people and the politics behind it and how

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Speaker 5: nurses can be in the front lines not only to

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Speaker 5: take care of patients, but also for other healthcare workers

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Speaker 5: around the world. And that's a huge part of this

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Speaker 5: because this genocide that's going on has claimed the lives

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Speaker 5: of so many innocent civilians as well as physicians and

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Speaker 5: nurses and other healthcare workers, medics, etc. From that big

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Speaker 5: group or almost you can call it national, there are

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Speaker 5: smaller chapters now in different cities. There's Healthcare Workers for

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Speaker 5: Palestine twin cities where I am from, and Chicago and

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Speaker 5: San Francisco, and there's in Seattle and Boston. There's a

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Speaker 5: lot of movement among healthcare workers where they focus their

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Speaker 5: attention that you know, hospitals, health care facilities, healthcare professionals

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Speaker 5: are not a target during a military conflict, and all

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Speaker 5: the war crimes that are being committed need to be

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Speaker 5: answered for. So from that we kind of sprouted a

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Speaker 5: smaller group, and with the election coming up for the

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Speaker 5: National Nurses United, we thought we could take that more

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Speaker 5: of a like a grassroots movement to make a bigger change,

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Speaker 5: because we believe, you know, all these smaller changes in

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Speaker 5: the base should lead to a bigger change at the top,

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Speaker 5: and unions are the perfect example where we can affect change.

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Speaker 5: And you have the politicians and all the people up

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Speaker 5: in the highest echelon of powers if you will listen

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Speaker 5: and do what actually the base needs, and you know,

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Speaker 5: there's no better way of doing it but having your

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Speaker 5: own union representing what the nurses in the union want,

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Speaker 5: and their policies and statements should reflect what the nurses need.

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Speaker 5: And that's what we're here and that's why we call

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Speaker 5: ourselves Shift Change.

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Speaker 3: One thing I wanted to add on to that is

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Speaker 3: that like when we first all came together, there was

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Speaker 3: a call from Palsenian trade unions to push our own

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Speaker 3: trade unions here in the US, which have historically not

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Speaker 3: really taken strong positions on things like international conflicts or

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Speaker 3: you know, what's going on in Palestine in particular. And

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Speaker 3: our union just adopted BDS language within the last year

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Speaker 3: in the California nurs Association National Nurses Organizing Committee, and

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Speaker 3: that took an extraordinary amount of pressure from rank and

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Speaker 3: file nurses to get the leadership to agree that this

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Speaker 3: was an important stance. We noticed that unions had just

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Speaker 3: gone through uh, you know, democratic reform processes who have

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Speaker 3: been taken over by rank and file workers. The UAW

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Speaker 3: with Sean Fain had adopted much more like much quickly,

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Speaker 3: much more quickly resolutions in favor of peace and ceasefire,

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Speaker 3: and you know, as workers were like against war of

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Speaker 3: all kinds. And but in particular, this is like a

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Speaker 3: particularly egregious situation where nurses have borne the brunts of

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Speaker 3: like all the healthcare workers who are being targeted specifically

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Speaker 3: and palisfied in Gaza. The majority of those of those

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Speaker 3: healthcare workers are nurses. Believe there's a direct connection between

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Speaker 3: you know, our work here and the support of those

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Speaker 3: nurses over there. And I guess then going from that

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Speaker 3: to leading towards how our building a democratic rank and

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Speaker 3: file union. Not only will it enact these be a

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Speaker 3: way for us to enact the kind of positive policy

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Speaker 3: changes we want, but it'll build a stronger union for

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Speaker 3: everybody so that we can fight the bosses at the

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Speaker 3: bedside making sure that our patients are taking care of

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Speaker 3: our communities. So I'll let it.

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Speaker 1: Go, you know, so that that's a bit of a

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Speaker 1: segue into the next thing I wanted to ask about,

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Speaker 1: which was, Okay, So you've talked about sort of you've

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Speaker 1: talked about how you all met through like Palcity, saldi

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Speaker 1: are you're organizing, how that's one of the important things

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Speaker 1: for why y'all are doing this. But I want to say, yeah,

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Speaker 1: so if you can go into more detail about the

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Speaker 1: specific things that brought you to running for.

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Speaker 3: This, why don't you give a little bit of an

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Speaker 3: account of your story of how you first heard about

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Speaker 3: shift changes like a thing, because I think that's kind

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Speaker 3: of that I think that would be fun.

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Speaker 4: So I first heard of shift changed last year, and

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Speaker 4: you know, I was very apprehensive.

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Speaker 2: I was like, Oh Wow, who's this new group that's

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Speaker 2: coming in?

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Speaker 4: And you know, I kept I was hearing from my

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Speaker 4: very own union that you know, there was a group

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Speaker 4: out there that was challenging and that maybe had gotten

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Speaker 4: some things.

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Speaker 2: Wrong, and you know, they they just you know, needed

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Speaker 2: to kind of be put aside. And so I did

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Speaker 2: join one of the calls.

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Speaker 4: There was an outreach call to kind of figure out

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Speaker 4: whose shift change.

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Speaker 2: Is, and I thought it was pretty interesting.

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Speaker 4: I thought, you know, here are some very motivated union

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Speaker 4: members who see that there's there's something that needs to

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Speaker 4: change within our union, which is part of what we

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Speaker 4: do as organizers. We see that there may be something

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Speaker 4: that needs to change even within our own union, and

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Speaker 4: we rank and file, or we as union members should

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Speaker 4: be able to have that voice to change it. And

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Speaker 4: what I was seeing was that their voice was being

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Speaker 4: really suppressed. Instead of saying, hey, how can we move

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Speaker 4: towards what you're asking and really come to a place

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Speaker 4: where we can understand where you're coming from, instead it

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Speaker 4: was no, we're not going to listen to their voices.

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Speaker 4: We're not gonna, you know, even engage with this group.

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Speaker 4: They're this rogue group out there that's like, you know,

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Speaker 4: causing all this ruckus, which makes me, you know, I'm

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Speaker 4: somebody who loves and gravitates towards ruckus.

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Speaker 2: That's just my personality. So it just made me more curious.

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Speaker 4: And then, you know, when we started organizing for you know,

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Speaker 4: the Palestine Solidarity, John came in and I was like,

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Speaker 4: oh wait, I think I know this guy, like, you know,

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Speaker 4: he's one of those shift change guys.

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Speaker 2: And it just made me more curious.

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Speaker 4: And you know, we've had great conversations and I really

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Speaker 4: really understand, you know, the motivation and because of some

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Speaker 4: things that have happened to me within our union that

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Speaker 4: has made me really recognize there are ways that we

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Speaker 4: can make positive changes for our union, and as organizers,

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Speaker 4: as nurses, we have to strive for those and we

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Speaker 4: have to have the ability to have our voices heard

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Speaker 4: and to motivate each other to make those changes. Because

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Speaker 4: if we are the union, then we should be able

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Speaker 4: to change our union towards what we want to see

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Speaker 4: out of our union. And that's probably the most important thing.

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Speaker 3: I was going to say, Jaheed, do you want to

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Speaker 3: talk a little bit about your experience with the Minnesota

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Speaker 3: nurs Association strike in twenty twenty two and then watching

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Speaker 3: the Nurses Forward people, because I think that kind of

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Speaker 3: ties in well.

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Speaker 1: Sorry, before we do that. We have to do an

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Speaker 1: ad break before or I'm also gonna get yelled at

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Speaker 1: my bosses at break a ads. All right, well we're back,

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Speaker 1: We're back from ads hell.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, let's do this.

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Speaker 5: I thought my two cents would be a good fit

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Speaker 5: after what Rusida just said. Everybody has their own unique

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Speaker 5: experience and how they became interested. I'm a member of

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Speaker 5: Minnesota Nurses Association and we went to unstrike two years

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Speaker 5: ago to request and demand better contract with the Fairview

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Speaker 5: system here in the Twin Cities area. Eventually there was

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Speaker 5: a contract that it was ratified. After that there was

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Speaker 5: an election, and even though I'm a member, i am

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Speaker 5: active member. I serve on some committees with M and

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Speaker 5: A and recently I joined the Government Affairs Committee, you know,

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Speaker 5: having been really engage used in the politics of the

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Speaker 5: union until a new slate another troublemakers, if you will,

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Speaker 5: another group of troublemakers, you know, who call themselves Nurse

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Speaker 5: Nurses Forward. They ran against the current board and actually

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Speaker 5: they won. They won in a landslide last November, and

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Speaker 5: that was a huge change and an inspiration for me. Really,

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Speaker 5: that rank and file nurses and they're all, you know,

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Speaker 5: nurses working the on the floors, and I know some

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Speaker 5: of them personally, and I trusted these guys knew what

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Speaker 5: they're talking about, and they they were running on a

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Speaker 5: platform that made sense where all the rank and file

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Speaker 5: nurses have a say and they are well informed because

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Speaker 5: there's a lot of stuff that goes behind doors that

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Speaker 5: nurses are not brevy to, and that, you know, makes

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Speaker 5: things sound a little shady sometimes where you know, unions

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Speaker 5: are say, endorsing a politician and this politician kind of

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Speaker 5: drops the ball or does something that's not in the

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Speaker 5: interest of the union, and yet they're still supporting them.

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Speaker 5: We need to know why and how that came to be.

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Speaker 5: So that kind of gave me an inspiration and the

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Speaker 5: moment John came and recruited me, if you will, and

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Speaker 5: I thought, sure, you know, if we can do affect

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Speaker 5: some change in the local level, I think it's time

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Speaker 5: to change at the national level. So we're hoping for

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Speaker 5: the best here and we're trying to do our best

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Speaker 5: to get a good result.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, And I mean

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Speaker 1: that was something I remember from last time, is this

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Speaker 1: issue of transparency, in this issue of the union acting.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if autonomously is the right word, but

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Speaker 1: the union acting just sort of doing stuff that members

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Speaker 1: were just like finding out about afterwards. Yeah, and you know,

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Speaker 1: I don't know, I think like that's on a kind

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Speaker 1: of basic I mean, there's there's obviously a political level

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Speaker 1: to it, but on just the sort of basic what

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Speaker 1: is a union level? You would think that your union

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Speaker 1: wouldn't be doing that, and yet Comma, I was just.

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Speaker 2: Going to comment on that.

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Speaker 4: I think one of the biggest parallels that I've been

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Speaker 4: able to see is, you know, we spend a lot

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Speaker 4: of time of our as nurses fighting against the hospital industry.

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Speaker 4: Right it's the big Boss, as we call it. You know,

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Speaker 4: we march on the Boss, or you know, we have

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Speaker 4: you know, rallies around it, or we do petitions, and

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Speaker 4: you know, we're constantly fighting this big entity of a

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Speaker 4: hospital industry, which oftentimes keeps us in the dark about

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Speaker 4: policies or about changes that they're making, or you know,

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Speaker 4: various things. And I can't help but to see the

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Speaker 4: parallels between our fight with the hospital industry and then

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Speaker 4: comes our fight with our own union. So, you know,

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Speaker 4: how can we within ourion change that so that we're

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Speaker 4: not seeing both entities as the same. I don't want

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Speaker 4: to be in a union that I also am feeling

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Speaker 4: is the same entity that we are fighting a bedside.

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Speaker 4: So that transparency for us is extremely important, That autonomy,

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Speaker 4: that accountability is extremely important, because why should we be

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Speaker 4: having two parallel fights with our own union and with

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Speaker 4: the hospital industry.

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Speaker 3: I was going to say, like that the that's what

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Speaker 3: inspired us the first time around was that it felt

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Speaker 3: like we were struggling both against Like you've got to

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Speaker 3: fight against management. Why do I have to also at

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Speaker 3: the same time turn around and fight like with union

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Speaker 3: staff about basic stuff. That's like all they have to

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Speaker 3: do is like nurses are really smart. I know it's hard,

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Speaker 3: Like it's a shocking idea that nurses might know a

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Speaker 3: thing or two and the idea that we that they

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Speaker 3: have to come up and focus group amongst themselves to

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Speaker 3: tell us what our values are. Right, Like, I think

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Speaker 3: I can walk around my unit and I can tell

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Speaker 3: I can find out what nurse's values are real fast.

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Speaker 3: I mean, we may not all agree on every single thing, right,

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Speaker 3: there's a there's a pretty wide amount of ideological like

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Speaker 3: alignment in our union. We're not all We're not all

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Speaker 3: in and locked up about everything except for how important

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Speaker 3: it is that nurses are actually leading and driving how

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Speaker 3: the union works, and so we have you know, the

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Speaker 3: main core thing, and I think this is what's so

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Speaker 3: important about union organizing in particular, is that you can

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Speaker 3: set aside disagreements on one thing and you focus on

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Speaker 3: the thing that's the that's your your shared material interest

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Speaker 3: regardless because we all do the same kind of work.

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Speaker 3: It's really important.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's and that, yeah, but that also makes

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Speaker 1: it doubly important that the institution that you're using to

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Speaker 1: do this is actually doing the things you wanted to

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Speaker 1: do when not fighting you at every step. One of

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Speaker 1: the things that you mentioned we were talking about this

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Speaker 1: was how this kind of stuff in the union was

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Speaker 1: impacting Pausinian solidarity organizing. I was wondering if you could

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Speaker 1: talk a bit about that, Oh I.

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Speaker 4: Can, I can take that out then and Jahad can

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Speaker 4: actually add into it. But so I was part of

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Speaker 4: Social Justice Committee. I was actually the chair for the

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Speaker 4: entire California for n and U. And one of the

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Speaker 4: biggest things is, you know, of course we're speaking out

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Speaker 4: for our communities, we're speaking out for oppression against oppression

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Speaker 4: and specifically for marginalized communities. So I thought it would

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Speaker 4: be pretty easy for us to align ourselves with our

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Speaker 4: resolutions that we had just passed. And actually October the

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Speaker 4: eighth of twenty twenty three and I.

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Speaker 2: Ran across a lot of barriers.

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Speaker 4: I wanted our union, my union, to put out a

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Speaker 4: statement about a ceasefire and to put out a statement

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Speaker 4: about how bombing hospitals and killing our healthcare worker colleagues

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Speaker 4: was wrong. And I was constantly, you know, barriers were

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Speaker 4: put up. I was told I could not throw, I

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Speaker 4: could not do a vigil, I could not initiate, that

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Speaker 4: I could not speak on behalf of me being a nurse,

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Speaker 4: and so that infuriated me. I felt really really betrayed

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Speaker 4: by my union that we had just signed all these

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Speaker 4: resolutions specifically talking about aggression, talking about aparthei, and yet

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Speaker 4: I was being told that I could not speak up

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Speaker 4: and then I was ghosted on a few times I

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Speaker 4: would start sending emails. I was like, hey, what's you

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Speaker 4: know going on? How come I can't do this? And

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Speaker 4: there would be no answer. Or I would say, hey,

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Speaker 4: I want to do a vigil. Nope, you can't do

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Speaker 4: a vigil. Nope, there's no signs that you can use. Nope, nope, no,

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Speaker 4: And so I just kept getting all these no answers,

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Speaker 4: and a few of us got together, we got.

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Speaker 2: A petition going, and we sent it in.

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Speaker 4: We're like, hey, look, these are all the reasons why

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Speaker 4: we as nurses feel that we should be speaking out

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Speaker 4: against what's happening right now.

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Speaker 2: And this is even in the early times, even.

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Speaker 4: You know, really in you know, the end of October,

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Speaker 4: beginning of the next month, and you know, it took

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Speaker 4: them a long time to get it out, and it

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Speaker 4: was a very middle of the road statement.

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Speaker 2: At that time, I had.

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Speaker 4: Asked the union to sign on and endorse one of

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Speaker 4: the largest and one of the first union rallies in

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Speaker 4: support of Palestine that had been called by the Palestinian

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Speaker 4: trade unions specifically for us to rally around, and they refused,

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Speaker 4: And on that morning I submitted publicly my resignation to

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Speaker 4: the Racial Social Justice Committee. I felt that it was

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Speaker 4: an absolute dishonor for me to sit in that position

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Speaker 4: and to be the face of a committee that says

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Speaker 4: it stands for social justice and yet was putting up

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Speaker 4: barriers for us to speak out as nurses, and that

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Speaker 4: really was a huge deal for me. It was a

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Speaker 4: huge deal for many other people that saw that as

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Speaker 4: a gesture of solidarity.

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Speaker 2: But it was more.

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Speaker 4: It was about my ethics and it was about my

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Speaker 4: moral standing. I could not legitimately sit in that position

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Speaker 4: while my union was stifling and censoring my voice.

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Speaker 1: It's a brief thing that you'd take a stand like that,

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Speaker 1: and it's also it's the right thing to do, and

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Speaker 1: you should never have had to do this in the

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Speaker 1: first place, like Jesus Christ. Oh, I don't know, I mean,

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Speaker 1: I don't know. It's just deeply and incredibly frustrating, like

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Speaker 1: just curing that and watching them just like ignore the

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Speaker 1: things that they ignore, the resolution that they just passed,

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Speaker 1: and I don't know, that's absolutely terrible of the.

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Speaker 2: Lots hipocrisy much.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, Well, if I may add to what Mercita

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Speaker 6: just said, First of all, I have to say, Rosita

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Speaker 6: is the bravest person I know, and what her positions

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Speaker 6: and her ethics are of the highest caliber.

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Speaker 5: So I'm honored to be running with her during this time.

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Speaker 5: You know, from example here in Minnesota, you know, nurses.

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Speaker 5: As part of the Government Affairs Committee, I was involved in.

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Speaker 5: I came kind of toward the end, so I can't

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Speaker 5: take credit for it, but it was the keeping nurses

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Speaker 5: at the bedside bill. It was, it was adopted, was

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Speaker 5: passed the House. Now in Minnesota we have all three

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Speaker 5: branches basically in the hands of Democrats, asked the House

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Speaker 5: and the Senate, and yet the governor vetoed it. Why

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Speaker 5: because there was pressure from corporate you know, the big

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Speaker 5: wigs told him, if you do it, we're gonna pull

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Speaker 5: some investment or something, or I don't know, maybe we

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Speaker 5: won't have you on the board after you retire, something

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Speaker 5: like that. So I don't know, but that kind of

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Speaker 5: triggered us. It was really a stab in the back,

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Speaker 5: if you will. But it's still you know, the union

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Speaker 5: itself could do better. It can It can be more

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Speaker 5: sensitive to its members' needs and their demands. For example,

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Speaker 5: we were trying to get a resolution or a statement

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Speaker 5: it was back in October about a ceasefire here through

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Speaker 5: the union, even though it's I would say, inconsequential for

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Speaker 5: them to say, but they even refused to hear the

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Speaker 5: suggestion or the movement to issue a statement. That was

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Speaker 5: the old board to the end of the reign of

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Speaker 5: the old board, there was more effort. I think it

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Speaker 5: was mid December and a week really watered down resolution

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Speaker 5: was adopted, calling few seas fire the new board team,

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Speaker 5: and the first or second meeting in January. In February

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Speaker 5: there was a much more robust resolution that was adapted

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Speaker 5: at a much higher nies against versus yes versus names

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Speaker 5: in that there was no news. Actually there were some abstentions,

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Speaker 5: like three out of fourteen, so you know there.

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Speaker 3: Is a movement.

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Speaker 5: There's a grassroots rank and file nurses who are pushing

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Speaker 5: towards change. The same thing. I'm also not only a nurse,

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Speaker 5: but also a nursing faculty at Minnesota State University in Makaio,

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Speaker 5: and I belonged to another union, the faculty union, And

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Speaker 5: the very beginning there was just kind of deafening silence.

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Speaker 5: Nobody wants to hear anything. It reminded me of the

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Speaker 5: period after nine to eleven. If you speak anything against

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Speaker 5: the government or anything real critique what the government did

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Speaker 5: or didn't do, you are on the other side. You know,

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Speaker 5: remember that if you're not with us, you're against us.

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Speaker 5: Argument and it's the same thing. It's the same thing here.

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Speaker 5: I know, people who lost their jobs because they were

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Speaker 5: speaking out for Palestine or against the atrocities that these

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Speaker 5: radis were committing. And that's from within unions and healthcare organizations.

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Speaker 5: People who lost their livelihoods because of it, and they

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Speaker 5: are labeled as anti Semitic or anything like that. So

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Speaker 5: they were trying to kind of silence people, scare them

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Speaker 5: with all these labels and you know, illegitimate ways of

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Speaker 5: really conducting a civil discourse or having someone hear a

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Speaker 5: different point view. So, you know, from that sprouted this

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Speaker 5: huge movement among nurses and healthcare professionals that we want

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Speaker 5: this to go wider, even at the national level. During

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Speaker 5: the primaries, where a lot of organizing what's happening for

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Speaker 5: you know, uncommitted votes for the primaries for Joe Biden,

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Speaker 5: and that made them feel you know, the pressure.

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Speaker 3: And as you can see.

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Speaker 5: The US vetoed a ceasefire resolution I think three times

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Speaker 5: before and yet this week they allowed one to pass

437
00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:39,439
Speaker 5: because there is a lot of political pressure because they

438
00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:42,879
Speaker 5: are doing their own calculation, I understand, but it's still

439
00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:46,320
Speaker 5: there is a grassroot movement that affects this change.

440
00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:49,440
Speaker 3: I just want to tie in like everything that we're

441
00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:54,600
Speaker 3: saying around organizing because I think so much a lot

442
00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:56,679
Speaker 3: of people come to unions with the idea that this

443
00:26:56,840 --> 00:27:00,119
Speaker 3: is how they you know, you get a chance to

444
00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:03,480
Speaker 3: build a platform to make a case for the right policies, right,

445
00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:08,040
Speaker 3: and we you know, we pushed things through legislation and

446
00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:12,600
Speaker 3: lobbying and then for some reason, like a governor decides

447
00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:15,359
Speaker 3: that they're not going to pass it. You know, our union,

448
00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:19,320
Speaker 3: like my part of the union, Californian Association National Nurses

449
00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:23,960
Speaker 3: Organizing Committee, this is Rosita's Part two, was at one

450
00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:28,000
Speaker 3: point powerful, like, was so organized and so powerful that

451
00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:30,440
Speaker 3: they forced the state of California, which is one of

452
00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:34,200
Speaker 3: the largest economies in the world, to pass a ratio

453
00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:39,440
Speaker 3: bill that was you know that the Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor,

454
00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:42,119
Speaker 3: after what was passed that you know, those little nurses,

455
00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:44,520
Speaker 3: I can't believe we were letting them do this. You know,

456
00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:47,600
Speaker 3: our union at one point was powerful enough to help

457
00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:51,760
Speaker 3: end Arnold Schwarzenegger's political career. And so when we talk

458
00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:56,159
Speaker 3: about getting things passed, it requires a lot of power,

459
00:27:56,800 --> 00:27:58,960
Speaker 3: and a lot of people don't understand that power means

460
00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:02,880
Speaker 3: getting people to other to commit to take collective action.

461
00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:06,960
Speaker 3: That might mean occupying a capital, that might mean doing

462
00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:09,520
Speaker 3: things that are a little bit outside the law right,

463
00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:13,040
Speaker 3: but we understand that if we don't have the power,

464
00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:16,520
Speaker 3: then none of these you know, i idealistic things that

465
00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:19,000
Speaker 3: we want to have see change in the world or

466
00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:23,239
Speaker 3: happen in the world can happen. And we've seen when

467
00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:25,399
Speaker 3: we're talking about this idea, if you're either with us,

468
00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:29,080
Speaker 3: against us, or against us, people who are advocating for

469
00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:33,600
Speaker 3: building that power, and that power comes through defending our contracts,

470
00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:37,040
Speaker 3: defending our coworkers, through grief insights, making sure that we

471
00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:41,640
Speaker 3: are taking aggressive like action when it comes to strikes,

472
00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:44,720
Speaker 3: and getting a strong contract language in the first place,

473
00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:48,360
Speaker 3: people who are advocating for that are being labeled like

474
00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:52,520
Speaker 3: the enemy. Inside a union. It's very difficult when you

475
00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:55,920
Speaker 3: put so much of your time and energy into union work,

476
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:59,440
Speaker 3: which anyone who's a committed unionist can tell you of

477
00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:02,320
Speaker 3: all the countless amounts of their free time that they

478
00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:04,560
Speaker 3: spend away from their family, away from their friends, away

479
00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:07,240
Speaker 3: from their kids, doing the work of making sure that

480
00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:10,520
Speaker 3: you know the union is strong. To be kind of

481
00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:13,400
Speaker 3: accused of being not on the team right, or not

482
00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:17,280
Speaker 3: being for everyone else, not being a team player, when

483
00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:20,600
Speaker 3: you're always committed, you know, to building the power of

484
00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:22,960
Speaker 3: the team. I mean, this is why we're running is

485
00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:26,440
Speaker 3: because those of us who are making the case that

486
00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:29,240
Speaker 3: we need to be an organized union. We need a

487
00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:33,560
Speaker 3: union full of people who know how to how to fight,

488
00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:36,960
Speaker 3: how to push back, how to stand up for those

489
00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:40,080
Speaker 3: of us who might be weaker than others, to be

490
00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:43,720
Speaker 3: labeled troublemakers or pains in the ads, or they even

491
00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:46,840
Speaker 3: call us anti union or union busting, which is really

492
00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:51,320
Speaker 3: just it hurts, right, It's very stressful, but it's worth

493
00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:55,040
Speaker 3: it to us because our principles and our commitment to

494
00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:59,360
Speaker 3: our coworkers and building a workplace that's you know, a

495
00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:01,720
Speaker 3: just place, a place that takes care of all the

496
00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:05,160
Speaker 3: people in our communities, people who would otherwise be denied

497
00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:08,040
Speaker 3: the care that they deserve. We know that we can

498
00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:11,760
Speaker 3: only do that by being organized, building relationships, and taking

499
00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:16,280
Speaker 3: action together as a union to fight. And we know

500
00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:18,960
Speaker 3: what that looks like. We have members of Shift Change

501
00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:22,640
Speaker 3: who have been there when they've been occupying capital buildings,

502
00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:26,400
Speaker 3: running politicians out of office. I want our union to

503
00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:28,880
Speaker 3: be I tell everybody this, I want our union to

504
00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:31,160
Speaker 3: be strong and powerful and I want it to be

505
00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:33,880
Speaker 3: frightening to people who stand in the way of nurses

506
00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:37,000
Speaker 3: and our patients. And this is all connected. You know

507
00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:40,320
Speaker 3: what we see, you know, our government willing to let

508
00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:44,440
Speaker 3: happen to people halfway across the world. I always tell people,

509
00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:47,680
Speaker 3: my coworkers, you know what we let our bosses get

510
00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:50,640
Speaker 3: away with the least of us, it'll do to any

511
00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:54,040
Speaker 3: of us if they had the chance. And so all

512
00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:57,240
Speaker 3: of us come from the point of view that we

513
00:30:57,320 --> 00:30:59,800
Speaker 3: have to build our power. That power has to be

514
00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:03,320
Speaker 3: you know, honed through our fights at our work, making

515
00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:07,400
Speaker 3: sure that our working conditions are good, because we know

516
00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:10,200
Speaker 3: when nurses have good working conditions, patients get the care

517
00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:13,640
Speaker 3: they need. And when we're powerful and strong at the bedside,

518
00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:15,600
Speaker 3: we can be powerful and strong out in the community

519
00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:17,560
Speaker 3: where we need to take our fights, when we want

520
00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:20,840
Speaker 3: to make the world a better place for everybody. You know,

521
00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:25,160
Speaker 3: I don't think there's any coincidence that you know, Razita is,

522
00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:29,000
Speaker 3: you know, an indigenous woman. Her family's from refugees from

523
00:31:29,240 --> 00:31:32,840
Speaker 3: American foreign policy broad She had learned to be a

524
00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:39,200
Speaker 3: nurse in Gaza. Sanya's family is from the Dominican Republic.

525
00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:43,680
Speaker 3: Her family, like fled like a US back dictator there Trujillo,

526
00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:46,880
Speaker 3: and I don't think that there's any to me. There's no,

527
00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:51,280
Speaker 3: it's not a coincidence. So we're all here doing this

528
00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:53,760
Speaker 3: work of building the kind of powerful union that we

529
00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:57,200
Speaker 3: know that all of our coworkers deserve, that our communities deserve,

530
00:31:57,240 --> 00:31:58,680
Speaker 3: the whole world deserves.

531
00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:02,840
Speaker 2: Four troublemakers.

532
00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:09,000
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, someone someone smarter than me once this one.

533
00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:15,880
Speaker 5: Didn't someone say once that they've been called MAGA supporters

534
00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:16,320
Speaker 5: or something.

535
00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:20,600
Speaker 3: They were telling everybody that we were, uh, you know, weird,

536
00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:25,000
Speaker 3: right wing, trumpy people. And I think that anyone who

537
00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:28,200
Speaker 3: knows any of us would know that that is absolutely

538
00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:34,120
Speaker 3: furthest in the truth. But it is what it is,

539
00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:36,440
Speaker 3: you know. They people will say whatever they have to

540
00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:41,000
Speaker 3: say to scare people away from us, because that's easier

541
00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:44,200
Speaker 3: than doing the right thing, which is to make sure

542
00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:48,840
Speaker 3: that our union is a bottom up uh movement led

543
00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:52,640
Speaker 3: by nurses. They're very afraid of us doing getting our

544
00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:57,280
Speaker 3: stuff together because there's you know, there's always it's easier

545
00:32:57,280 --> 00:32:58,720
Speaker 3: to get along with the boss and it is to

546
00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:00,760
Speaker 3: get along with your coworkers some time. I think anyone

547
00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:03,200
Speaker 3: will tell you that as long as that we all know,

548
00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:05,200
Speaker 3: people who are friends with the boss, because that's an

549
00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:07,520
Speaker 3: easy thing to be. It's hard to stick up for

550
00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:11,240
Speaker 3: people who otherwise can't stick up for themselves.

551
00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:15,000
Speaker 2: Just in the in the you know, for our elections.

552
00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:19,560
Speaker 4: So the fact that we're even running our union doesn't

553
00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:22,360
Speaker 4: want everyone to know about elections, and the way that

554
00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:24,760
Speaker 4: it's kind of we just give you the list that

555
00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:26,960
Speaker 4: we're going to endorse, just vote for them, and no

556
00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:27,880
Speaker 4: questions asked.

557
00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:31,600
Speaker 2: That that's just how it should be. So the fact that, you.

558
00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:34,200
Speaker 4: Know, there's not a lot of information about the elections

559
00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:36,080
Speaker 4: that go on in the n and you what does

560
00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:38,479
Speaker 4: it mean, what does it mean to be in you know,

561
00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:39,840
Speaker 4: in a Council of Presidents?

562
00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:41,880
Speaker 2: What does it even mean to be a delegate?

563
00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:46,720
Speaker 4: We are often spoon fed the delegate position, just be

564
00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:49,920
Speaker 4: a delegate and then not told exactly what that means.

565
00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:52,480
Speaker 4: What does that mean for us? What does that mean

566
00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:54,480
Speaker 4: in our resolutions? What does that mean when we go

567
00:33:54,520 --> 00:33:57,960
Speaker 4: to convention? Those things should not be a mystery to us.

568
00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:00,600
Speaker 4: We shouldn't have to poke and pro to get that

569
00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:03,520
Speaker 4: information about elections. And so that's also one of the

570
00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:06,400
Speaker 4: things that we're trying to highlight as well. We should

571
00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:10,280
Speaker 4: be very informed. And I think that's also another parallel

572
00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:14,759
Speaker 4: between our US government who chooses, you know, they kind

573
00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:17,240
Speaker 4: of sometimes expect us not to go to the polls

574
00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:20,360
Speaker 4: because it works in their favor, to not be informed

575
00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:24,200
Speaker 4: voters because it works in their favor. So we can

576
00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:26,239
Speaker 4: kind of see that same parallel, and that's one of

577
00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:28,959
Speaker 4: the things that you know, I think John has made

578
00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:32,880
Speaker 4: a great way of highlighting that and has really essentially,

579
00:34:33,040 --> 00:34:35,720
Speaker 4: you know, paved the way for making that information known

580
00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:38,920
Speaker 4: as well as Zenya Zenya is can I say this,

581
00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:43,759
Speaker 4: she's a full badass because she her and John, like

582
00:34:43,840 --> 00:34:46,000
Speaker 4: I have to say, like, they are so on it

583
00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:49,920
Speaker 4: of getting that information out and it's extremely important because

584
00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:52,080
Speaker 4: we want our nurses to be informed. We want all

585
00:34:52,160 --> 00:34:53,080
Speaker 4: of us to be informed.

586
00:34:54,200 --> 00:34:54,399
Speaker 3: Yeah.

587
00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:56,960
Speaker 1: So on that note, when is the election and if

588
00:34:57,000 --> 00:34:58,480
Speaker 1: you're in the Union, how do you vote?

589
00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:04,000
Speaker 3: Ballots go out April fifth, we have to have you

590
00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:08,399
Speaker 3: have to have your ballot in Oakland in the office

591
00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:11,960
Speaker 3: by May. We're telling people May seventeenth, because they're going

592
00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:16,279
Speaker 3: to be counted the morning of May eighteenth. You will

593
00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:19,240
Speaker 3: get if you are a member, a due's paying member

594
00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:23,200
Speaker 3: in good standing, you will get a ballot in the mail.

595
00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:25,960
Speaker 3: But we are also telling people because we are finding

596
00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:29,520
Speaker 3: that there's kind of like two lists of people, you know,

597
00:35:29,719 --> 00:35:33,319
Speaker 3: in particularly our VA nurses. VA nurses are telling us

598
00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:36,759
Speaker 3: that they have not been getting bad they didn't get

599
00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:40,960
Speaker 3: ballots last election, and so we're encouraging everyone to send

600
00:35:41,400 --> 00:35:45,560
Speaker 3: emails to the election officers to get a ballot if

601
00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:48,640
Speaker 3: you haven't gotten one, to make sure that those lists.

602
00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:51,720
Speaker 3: There's a list of people paying dues and they faithfully

603
00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:55,840
Speaker 3: take your dues out of out of your check. And

604
00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:58,400
Speaker 3: then there's a list of people who receive ballots. You know,

605
00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:01,799
Speaker 3: definitely very now normal and cool, the sort of thing

606
00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:05,000
Speaker 3: that we expect from any sort of union, that is,

607
00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:08,719
Speaker 3: you know, buying for the nurses. And so we have

608
00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:13,600
Speaker 3: an election email. Can I does anyone have that offs

609
00:36:13,640 --> 00:36:15,160
Speaker 3: up their heads? I will pull it up real quick

610
00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:16,120
Speaker 3: as we were talking.

611
00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:20,839
Speaker 1: That's fine, We'll just we'll just show notes. Yes, yeah,

612
00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:21,680
Speaker 1: it will be a description.

613
00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:25,120
Speaker 5: And now in the meantime, you know, people can go

614
00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:27,440
Speaker 5: to our website. We have a website where you can

615
00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:32,759
Speaker 5: read about our story, our philosophy, our platform, you know,

616
00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:35,759
Speaker 5: all the things that people should know and how to

617
00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:39,280
Speaker 5: request the ballot and how to email the union and everything.

618
00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:42,839
Speaker 5: The address is shift change and and you when we're

619
00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:43,560
Speaker 5: dot org.

620
00:36:45,719 --> 00:36:48,680
Speaker 1: Awesome. Yeah, thank you, Thank you three so much for

621
00:36:48,719 --> 00:36:53,439
Speaker 1: coming on the show and hope, hope you beat them.

622
00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:57,080
Speaker 3: I'm looking forward to us having a vigor call where

623
00:36:57,080 --> 00:36:57,439
Speaker 3: we can.

624
00:36:58,480 --> 00:36:59,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm excited.

625
00:37:01,160 --> 00:37:04,560
Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you for having us think you appreciate it.

626
00:37:05,320 --> 00:37:09,319
Speaker 1: Yeah, and the cpdiculd happened here you too, also listen,

627
00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:13,920
Speaker 1: dear listener, can go make trouble for your bosses, your

628
00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:16,640
Speaker 1: political leaders and people in your union if they're not

629
00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:17,560
Speaker 1: doing what you want them to do?

630
00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:27,240
Speaker 7: Heh Yeah, absolutely, it could happen here as a production

631
00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:28,320
Speaker 7: of cool Zone Media.

632
00:37:28,520 --> 00:37:29,640
Speaker 2: For more podcasts from.

633
00:37:29,560 --> 00:37:32,560
Speaker 8: Cool Zone Media, visit our website cool zonemedia dot com

634
00:37:32,640 --> 00:37:35,200
Speaker 8: or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

635
00:37:35,360 --> 00:37:38,160
Speaker 8: or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find sources

636
00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:41,000
Speaker 8: for It could happen here, updated monthly at cool zonemedia

637
00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:43,560
Speaker 8: dot com slash sources. Thanks for listening.