Today is International Workers’ Day – otherwise known as May Day.

It’s a worldwide celebration of labor rights, and a call to action to fight for the rights of working-class people in our country and around the world.

In honor of May Day, nurses are taking action today at 139 workplaces across the country to demand the protections we need for ourselves, other health care workers, and our patients to stay safe during this pandemic. Nurses are protesting outside hospitals, marching together on our bosses, and wearing stickers on our scrubs to demand the PPE we need to stay safe.

Too many nurses are still being forced to treat patients without PPE and even being disciplined for calling on our employers to follow proper safety measures. That’s why we’re asking all of you to stand in solidarity with us this May Day and call on hospitals to do more to secure the PPE that nurses desperately need. 

Will you make an urgent call to the American Hospital Association right now to demand that all AHA member hospitals do more to secure the PPE we so desperately need and stop threatening nurses who speak out?

HOW TO CALL: → Dial (202) 519-0494 ← You can use this sample script when you call (be sure to mention if you are a nurse or health care worker!): “Hi, my name is ______ and I’m calling in support of nurses across the country taking action today for better workplace protections during this crisis. I’m calling to ask the AHA to call on your member hospitals to do more to provide nurses with the PPE they need to take care of their patients and keep us all safe. If nurses become infected, they won’t be there when you and your loved ones need them. Hospital employers are not doing enough, and the AHA needs to demand that they step up. Thank you.” Tell us how it went »

The AHA includes thousands of member hospitals across the country. It has tremendous power and influence to call on its member hospitals to take action and provide the PPE that nurses and health care workers need to protect ourselves.

This is a matter of life and death. For weeks, health care workers in Kansas City warned their employer that the lack of adequate PPE was putting them at risk when treating COVID-19 patients.

One of the nurses there who raised concerns about the lack of PPE, Celia Yap Banago, died last week after caring for a COVID-19 patient. She was an RN who had worked at Research Medical Center for more than 40 years. Nurses at the same facility are reporting that there’s been no change to PPE protocols or supplies since her death. 

Nurses should not have to risk their lives to do their jobs. Employers should be doing everything they can to secure PPE and make it available — not hiding it away or disciplining nurses who advocate for safety. 

Will you join nurses this May Day and call the AHA to demand that they do everything in their power to protect nurses and provide the PPE they need to stay alive and treat their patients?

It’s up to us to make sure that every nurse – regardless of union status – has the protections they need to do their jobs safely. 

Thank you for speaking out. 

In solidarity, 

National Nurses United

P.S. - To help amplify our voice this May Day, please share this tweet from our Executive Director, Bonnie Castillo.