Labor 2010 Labor Leader Spotlight: MNA President Linda Hamilton

Linda Hamilton is the President of Minnesota Nurses Association. She is a champion for nurses, hospital patients, and the labor community. Here is an interview with her about leadership and why it is important to get involved in your union and Labor 2010 efforts.

How did you become an activist in your union?

In 1994, hospitals across the country were de-skilling nursing care at the bedside by replacing RNs and LPNs with unlicensed workers. MN State Law states it is the duty of the RN to coordinate and delegate care for each patient we care for. My employer wanted to make decisions that I am accountable for--not for the benefit of the patient, but for excessive CEO salaries and profit. The hospitals put dollars over patient care and safely.

That got me off the chair. I wanted to stop this attack on my patients. I was ready when asked by a steward in my hospital Kathleen Moore to run for unit steward. I said yes, I wanted to be in the fight and not in the audience.

I learned what a great tool a union is to negotiate and legislate patient safety, to define the nurse’s role in patient advocacy and to further the profession of nursing. As time went on I realized I could make a difference in our profession and effect changes in social justice

Why is it important to become involved in your union?

It is a core human value to use our talents to better the lives of all not just our selves. We cannot morally sit aside and let others make decisions that will hurt our sisters and brothers.  We are in a country where some of us are not able to advocate for ourselves, some of us are new to the
country and are exploited, we have the sick and in need of health care, and many of us need a job. We all have a duty to speak and act. What we do may be great for others and even better for ourselves.

Edmund Burke perhaps said it best, "All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing."

What did the metro one day strike teach you as a leader?

I learned I am not alone in my commitment to our patients and our profession. We all were leaders on that day. In one day, Labor was a sea of red. The power and solidarity of our nurses and our labor community was evident. We demonstrated the energy and the will of people to move our employers to do what is right for patients, nurses and the labor community.

Why do nurses stand with Mark Dayton?

Mark Dayton will uphold the rights of unions to organize and have collective bargaining contracts. He will assure fair elections for workers in the decision on whether to unionize. He will assure patients who are hospitals have health care that is of the highest quality and that they have nurse staffing that is mandated based on patient acuity. Mark Dayton will work day and night to see that the people in Minnesota have jobs.  I can go on, but clearly, Mark Dayton is a candidate we can depend on to be the governor of Minnesota.
 
Describe MNA's Labor 2010 efforts.

We are active participants in Labor 2010. We strongly support efforts to educate our members of what is at stake in this election. We are encouraging members to call, door-knock, and most importantly, the one to one conversations about the issues and the candidates.