Hundreds of RNs from Across U.S. and World to Join California Nurses Association/NNOC National Convention

OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee will convene its national convention in Sacramento Monday, greeting hundreds of registered nurses from around the U.S. and the world -- and pressing the campaign for genuine, guaranteed healthcare reform in California and Washington. The conference is at the Sacramento Convention Center.

Highlighting the proceedings, convention delegates joined by community supporters will march to the Capitol Tuesday for a rally to press the case with California legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for real reform, not just cosmetic changes that reinforce the insurance-based system that created the current crisis.

This convention marks the first since CNA/NNOC's affiliation with the AFL-CIO, uniting one of the nation's fastest growing unions, CNA/NNOC, with millions of other union members. To mark the occasion, AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Richard Trumka will deliver the convention keynote address. Author and columnist Barbara Ehrenreich will also speak.

Additionally, RNs from Canada, Great Britain, and Australia will tell the real story about single-payer or national healthcare systems in their countries, describing the kind of healthcare system that Americans and Californians could have with the enactment of HR 676 in Congress or SB 840 in California.

Convention highlights. All events at Sacramento Convention Center unless noted:

    Monday, September 10
    -- "Digitalizing Care," the latest trends in healthcare restructuring, Don
       DeMoro, Executive Director, Institute for Health and Socio-Economic
       Policy, 10 a.m., Exhibit Hall A
    -- Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer, keynote address, 1 p.m.,
       Exhibit Hall B

    Tuesday, September 11
    -- International RN panel on Guaranteed Healthcare, 10 a.m.,
       Exhibit Hall B
    -- March to State Capitol, begins 12 noon at Convention Center
    -- Guaranteed Healthcare Rally, 12:30 p.m., West Steps, Capitol

    Wednesday, September 12
    -- Barbara Ehrenreich, keynote address, 9 a.m., Exhibit Hall B

CNA/NNOC represents 75,000 RNs in all 50 states, and is a leader in the national campaign for genuine healthcare reform as embodied in HR 676 in Congress, and a pioneer in winning legislative patient protections and collective bargaining contracts that have set new standards for nurses across the nation.

For more information about CNA/NNOC, see http://www.calnurses.org.