By Lynne Bolton — Minnesota
Solidarity. In the labor movement, we use that word a lot. In my job, I use it every day. It has become as much a part of my daily language as “hello” or “thank you”.
On Thursday, June 10, 2010, in the Twin Cities Metro area that word becomes more than just a concept. It takes physical shape as 12,000 nurses from the Minnesota Nurses Association begin a 24 hour strike to make sure that hospital CEO’s put patients before profits, and provide the nursing staff needed for safe quality care.
In early May the Working America Twin Cities office joined over 300 Minnesota Nurses at a picket line in Coon Rapids – to show solidarity.
We joined them again a week later in St. Paul.
Shortly afterwards, we went to downtown Minneapolis, and this time not only Working America staff joined in, but so did passers-by.
Solidarity.
At the same time, Working America began collecting petition signatures in support of Minnesota Nurses as they bargained. As hospital CEO’s get richer, nurses were asked to work less hours, receive fewer benefits, and most frightening of all, have their patient load increased, potentially endangering patients. In the 4 weeks that we asked for petitions, over 3,000 Working America members - folks who don’t have the benefit of a union in their workplace, folks who know what it means to work hard to take care of their families - have said “I support Minnesota Nurses”.
And they tell stories. A member in Blaine told us that he had some medical problems. He said “The doctors healed me, but the nurses saved my life”. A woman spoke of her husband who had surgery for cancer spoke about the lack of available nurses for her husband who needed one-on-one care – because they were understaffed. And then there was the woman who was in the hospital for 4 months. Nurses worked overtime to be with her, so she didn’t have to go to assisted living. These members have seen nurses care for them, so they care for nurses.
Then there’s the member in Minneapolis. A young woman who works as a contract nurse and told her agency that no matter how much money they offer her, she won’t work on Thursday.
Tonight I attended a vigil at a church in St. Paul in honor of those nurses. There were many speakers, who were passionate and well spoken in the defense of Minnesota Nurses. They spoke about how these nurses were taking a risk for all of us by speaking out for patients. They spoke of their own personal stories on how nurses have affected their lives. They spoke of the need for the most vulnerable of our population – those that are sick – to keep their dignity as they get well. Most importantly, they spoke of the need for all of us to stand shoulder to shoulder with those nurses tomorrow as they walk that picket line.
Solidarity in the struggle.
(If you live in the Twin Cities Metro Area and would like to join the Minnesota Nurses as they picket, please visit the website for locations. If you cannot join the strike, but want to support MN Nurses, please call a hospital CEO.)
By Lynne Bolton — Minnesota
This is not going to be your typical blog story. I’ll tell you right away that the woman I was talking with signed down as a member and made a contribution. In a way, this story isn’t about her, it’s about me.
I came to this work like so many of us. I needed a job and I wanted to feel I was making a difference. And I know that I have. Over the last year and a half I (like every other canvasser) have heard the heartbreaking stories of job and health care loss. I’ve helped someone write a powerful letter, or listened as they made their first ever phone call to an elected official. These are wonderful moments, and for me at least, it’s sometimes easy to get lost in them.
The woman I was talking with didn’t need me to give her an impassioned argument for health care reform. She knew it was a moral issue, that our country desperately needs it. She wasn’t worried about paying more to get it. Her concerns were different.
You see, she and her husband owned a small business. They’d worked hard to make it profitable, and more importantly, they’d worked hard to find health care that would actually care for their employees and not bankrupt them. They’d finally found it, and she was afraid that her employees would lose it.
And so, I explained the public option to her, that that wouldn’t happen, and of course she got involved. As I was leaving, she thanked me for the work we do, but also for giving her the information. Because she and her friends talk about health care, and none of them understood how the Public Option would work, and now she could tell them.
It didn’t hit me until much later that this is, in some ways the most important thing we do. We connect people in their communities together - not just though membership and checks, but through the conversations that go on long after we leave.
by Liz Holmbeck — Minnesota
Last July we were out organizing the great folks in the Duluth, specifically in the Piedmont Heights area. It had just started to get dark, I knocked on this door and waited, from behind the door I hear a small voice ask, “who is there?” She opened the door, and I introduced myself and told her what we were up to in Duluth. She invited me in, and told me how she wished I wasn’t out in the dark. As we chatted, she told me about her life a bit. How when she was my age she worked for a telephone company and picketed back in the forties. As I was leaving she grabbed my hand and told me she was so happy to see us young kids out here doing this work. I left her door, but not before telling her thanks for her hard work all of her life, and that we will continue building the movement. It’s gotta be done.
by Maggie L — Minnesota
Last night I took out a community member for an observation day. When I asked him why he was passionate about healthcare, he told his story. He got a call from his brother who was experiencing medical problems- swollen limbs, his lips were turning blue, and dizziness. His brother refused to see a doctor because he didn’t have health insurance and couldn’t afford it. Two days later he suffered a heart attack and passed away. When this community member spoke at his brother’s funeral, he talked about this, and decided then he was done talking. He needed to take action. This touched me so much and the outcome was real organizing and a chance to give someone an opportunity to fight for his family and in turn, everyone’s family.
by Matt Mihlbauer—Minnesota
While canvassing in the uptown area, I spoke with a young doctor. He finished his 7 year long “residency” training several years ago. During the several months that came between the end of his residency and the start of his new job, he broke a bone in his foot. He did not have health insurance at the time, and ironically HE COULD NOT AFFORD to go to a doctor to have his foot x-rayed!!! Luckily, he knew how to wrap broken bones. Although it hurt like heck, he wrapped his foot every day for 6 weeks until the bone healed. He told me that he really could have used a public option during that time. He thanked me for being there, got me a glass of water, and wrote a generous check for Working America.
by Tommy Todd—Minnesota
The other night, I was speaking with an older woman and her grandson. They had indicated that education was their top priority. I told them all the wonderful things Working America was fighting for in education, and before I even got a chance to mention dues, her grandson ran into the back room and returned with his Spiderman wallet. He took out $5 and said “Here you go mister. You’re doing a good job.”
by Matthew Hall—Minnesota
One day I was canvassing and encountered a member that was really excited to see me. She invited me in to meet her elderly mother. We talked for a couple of minutes and she informed me that she was on Minnesota Care and was worried about funding for the program with all the state budget cuts. Her and her mother decided to sign down as members and pay $5 in dues. Just then the door bell rang. She went to answer it but no one was there. She then informed me that her father had died last year and before he had died he had vowed to fix the broken doorbell but had never got around to it. The door bell had worked only twice since then. Once when they were having Easter dinner and the other time right then. I took this as a sign that her father approved of what were doing and wanted to show his encouragement.
by Melissa Stiehler—Minnesota
I was organizing in Powderhorn and came across an unemployed woman, home in foreclosure and a lack of hope. She payed close attention while I gave her my rap. As always I told her that grassroots will win with strength from the community. She then began to tell me about her struggle.
As she spoke, she started to cry, explaining how life isn’t easy right now. Due to proposed health care cuts, she was laid off from her nursing job. She was the only working person in her house, supporting her family and her three unemployed sisters. Bills had been piling up for quite some time and she could no longer afford her house, which has been in her family for four generations. And while she wanted to get involved on every level, she didn’t have enough money to pay her taxes, let alone make a dues payment. She knew our issues, as she lives them everyday.
As she signed down for a membership, she thanked me, both for the Unemployment Lifeline, and for working hard for people like her everyday. Knowing that there is an organization that is fighting for the people and offering resources to those who have been left behind by capitalist values gave her more hope than she had felt in quite some time. While financially she couldn’t help, she is more than on board with letting her voice be heard and fighting for the right of happiness for working families.
by Lynne Bolton—Minnesota
It had been raining on and off in South Minneapolis, and by about 6 pm I hadn’t had much luck yet — forget about getting any dues-paying members, folks weren’t even interested in listening to who I was. I was down near Minnehaha Creek, when the rain really started to pick up. I knocked on the door and a woman in her 40’s answered it. Inside were 4 kids all waiting for dinner as their frazzled mom listened to me give my rap. I was trying to be quick, as the kids were all trying to get her attention as well.
She told me that her big concerns were health care and jobs, as her husband (who did consulting IT work) had lost his big client, and she was staying at home with the kids. After I was finished, she said she wanted to give, but couldn’t do that much. I told her to give what she was comfortable with, and she contributed $60 - saying that she wished it could be more, because the issues were so important - to her, but also to everyone.
I left and went back into the rain, feeling better about what I was doing, and knowing I was appreciated.
by Elizabeth Holmbeck—Minnesota
One day while canvassing, I ran into a elderly fellow who lived alone with his dog named Pat. As I talked with him about the issues that we work on, he was silent. When I stopped, he told me I did a good job and asked me in for tea. He was delightful — he told me of his days as a young man going door to door as a traveling salesman some fifty years ago, he talked about his service in World War II, and we discussed the current times. He told me that at 85 years of age he had been dropped by the VA medical because there were too many wounded vets coming home from the current conflict. My heart went out to him as someone who had no family or friends around him in his age and now had no healthcare. He was so thankful for what we did and told me to keep up the good work — and that is what I do!
