Michigan Nurse
Protect Our Jobs: It's in Your Hands
05.01.2012
Carol Kirtland, RN, gathers signatures for the Protect Our Jobs campaign at a recent event in Lansing. The public can understand how important collective bargaining is when nurses explain what it means for them: that nurses can be outspoken patient advocates in the hospital and work to improve care by addressing adequate staffing and other concerns.
Clipboards at the ready, MNA members are out all over the state sharing their passion for protecting collective bargaining rights. The clipboards are for gathering signatures to ensure success for the “Protect Our Jobs” campaign – putting a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November. The change will permanently protect collective bargaining for all Michigan workers, now and in the future. That’s right – this effort is the most important worker effort in our lifetime!
Nurses know how important collective bargaining is to securing fair wages, good benefits, safe workplaces and a voice on the job. Without the protection that collective bargaining provides, nurses cannot effectively advocate for their patients.
The “Protect Our Jobs” proposal to permanently protect collective bargaining helps all Michigan workers and residents in the following ways:
• It gives all workers a voice so they can protect their jobs, wages, benefits and safety on the job. Without these protections, CEOs can arbitrarily fire workers and cut wages, pensions and health care, as well as outsource jobs to China and Mexico.
• It protects the middle class – collective bargaining created the middle class and is key to keeping it from disappearing.
• It gives workers a voice against Lansing politicians passing one anti-worker law after another and corporate CEOs who care only about their profits; it provides a needed counterweight.
• It boosts our economy by making sure middle-class families can help small businesses create jobs (when workers can earn a fair wage, they have money to spend at local stores).
Keep up the great work on Protect Our Jobs, nurses! To learn more about events where you can join other members gathering signatures, contact Julia at julia.heck@minurses.org. And check out our Facebook page for information and photos of members in action: Facebook.com/minurses.
