NYSNA and National Nurses United (NNU) announced on October 20 that the New York nurses have overwhelmingly voted to affiliate with NNU, the largest union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States, to mutually grow and strengthen the power of nurses within the state and nationally to advocate for themselves and their patients. The vote came at NYSNA’s annual convention, where elected leaders in every NYSNA-represented facility in the state come together to decide the strategic direction of the union.

NYSNA’s nearly 42,000 members will increase NNU’s membership close to 225,000 nurses, and will also bring NYSNA into the AFL-CIO, of which NNU is already a member union. NYSNA, the oldest nurses association in the country and one of the most influential nurses unions, will gain greater resources and capacity, particularly in the federal arena, by joining NNU.

The two organizations are well aligned in their approaches to powerful representation on behalf of nurses and the profession, supporting efforts such as creating strong workplace standards to protect nurses from infectious diseases like Covid-19, establishing federal safe staffing laws, holding employers responsible for preventing workplace violence, and fighting for health care justice in our wider society.

NNU’s other affiliate nursing organizations include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, District of Columbia Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, and Minnesota Nurses Association, which recently engaged in the largest nurses strike in U.S. history.