Your UNION Rights:

"A nurse called by the Hospital to attend a disciplinary meeting or investigatory meeting which could lead to discipline shall have the right to Union representation, which includes the right to interrupt a meeting that has already commenced to request Union representation. It shall be the nurse's responsibility to inform the Hospital that she/he wishes to have such representation".
- Refer to Contract ARTICLE 3.2 c for complete language about this important Union right.

Nurses United Facebook link
Nurses United on Facebook

Nurses United allies and supporters: sign up for email updates

We urge all staff nurses in Nurses United to send their names, unit on which they work, and their current PERSONAL E-mail address to nursesunitedorg@aol.com so that we can E-mail you with the most up-to-date news.

Learn how to get a free Yahoo email account (PDF document)

about nurses united

Mission Vision Goals
  1. To promote, maintain, and improve the Economic and General Welfare of nurses.
  2. To foster high standards of nursing practice.
  3. To Continue to improve the quality of care to our patients.
  4. To foster collegiality and unity among nurses.
    • Restrictions with regard to nationality, race, religion, color, age, gender, or sexual orientation will be prohibited.
 To create a collaborative working relationship with our employer while promoting, protecting, and enhancing the Economic and General Welfare of Nurses.
  1. To become the exclusive representative for the staff nurses for purposes of collective bargaining.
  2. To negotiate a collective bargaining agreement by and between the Washington Hospital Center and the Staff Nurses at the Washington Hospital Center beneficial to the nurses and their patients.
  3. To represent nurses effectively and efficiently for collective bargaining purposes.
  4. To be financially responsible and accountable to members of Nurses United
  5. To be a membership driven organization.

The roots of Nurses United go back to the mid-1970s. At that time, registered nurses at WHC were frustrated with management's unfair practices. Nurses were hired at different pay rates, not relating to their experience, were sometimes fired if they become pregnant, wages were capped after five years, and the work environment was filled with discrimination and disrespect.

Nurses decided to take action and fought to form a union. It took one year, five months, and a 32 day-long strike for the hospital to agree to terms of a collective bargaining agreement with the nurses.

For the more then three decades since then, nurses at WHC have continued to fight for better work conditions and the ability to provide the best patient care possible. Health and education leave, a pension, shift differentials, the Weekend Incentive Nursing program, recognition of years of nursing experience outside the US, workplace safety improvements, and a fair and reliable pay scale were all hard won.

As a union, we were originally part of the DC Nurses Association. In 2003, Nurses United became its own independent union to better serve the needs of nurses at WHC.

The organizational structure of Nurses United has several parts: a nine member Executive Board that includes the president, vice-president, treasurer, recording secretary, corresponding secretary, and chief shop steward. There are 26 shop stewards who represent every unit in the hospital. These are all elected positions held by nurses. Elections take place every fall and each position has a two-year term. Members are appointed to serve as representatives on various hospital committees.