What is the “Code RED” campaign?
Our efforts here in Connecticut are part of a nationally coordinated push, led by AFT, to raise awareness of the issues facing providers, nurses and health professionals. It was inspired by the advocacy of union activists here in Connecticut and around the country aimed at securing safe patient limits, reducing workplace violence and holding facility administrators accountable.
Isn’t AFT a union for teachers?
AFT Nurses and Health Professionals (AFT NHP) — first known as the Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals and later as AFT Healthcare — was created in 1978. At the time, the union’s national constitution was amended to empower the organizing and affiliation of healthcare workers. Over the past five decades, the division has grown to represent over 250,000 health professionals across a wide variety of disciplines and settings.
How many health professionals belong to AFT affiliates?
In the past 10 years, nearly 100,000 health professionals across the nation have joined AFT NHP, with thousands organizing each year. We are the fastest-growing healthcare union in the country and the second-largest nurses union in the AFL-CIO, the umbrella coalition of 64 international labor organizations and nearly 15 million members.
Where does AFT represent health professionals?
AFT NHP members are represented by affiliated local unions across the nation. We have a significant presence here in Connecticut, as well as Alaska, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
What is AFT’s record on health professionals’ issues?
AFT NHP is driving the fight for safe staffing through collective bargaining and law-making, with recent landmark legislative victories in Connecticut, Oregon and Washington. These wins, achieved through the tireless advocacy of union nurses and health professionals, are saving lives, protecting patients and changing the national industry’s hospital staffing standards.
What other issues have AFT’s member health professionals made a priority?
In addition, AFT NHP members advocate for improved workplace safety, issues related to the scope of practice and professional licensure, as well as healthcare workforce diversity. Union activists have engaged their communities in protecting and expanding access to high-quality healthcare for all, and in addressing the inequities faced by underserved patients.
How does AFT determine state and national policy priorities?
The AFT NHP program and policy council program guides the division’s work on national healthcare workforce issues. AFT Connecticut’s Healthcare Council does likewise at the state level, and is made up of delegates from affiliated local unions who meet monthly to establish priorities and plan related activities.
How does AFT provide continuing education for health professionals?
Every year, AFT NHP hosts a national professional issues conference bringing members together from throughout the country, in addition to organizing local trainings and webinars that provide continuing education. AFT NHP is one of only a few AFL-CIO unions accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation, P#0003, as a provider of continuing education in nursing.