Why Disaffiliate from the ANA

This is to inform you that the MNA Board of Directors has scheduled a Special Business Meeting for the membership to vote on a bylaw proposal to disaffiliate from the American Nurses Association. The meeting has been scheduled for Saturday, March 24, 2001 at Mechanics Hall in Worcester. Disaffiliation is the only issue to be discussed at the March meeting, the doors for seating will open at 12pm and the meeting will begin promptly at 1pm.

On November 9, 2000, the membership voted on this issue at the Annual MNA Business Meeting, the most well attended business meeting in MNA history. While an overwhelming majority of members (62 percent) voted in favor of disaffiliation, supporters failed by just 4 percentage points (just 49 votes) to reach the two-thirds super majority necessary to authorize the split with the ANA. Following the vote, the Board and Cabinet received petitions from our membership in a number of bargaining units, as well as a number of phone calls requesting that the MNA once again address this issue as soon as possible.

The MNA Board of Directors Supports Disaffiliation

The Board wants all members to know that at our meeting in January, we voted unanimously to support disaffiliation from the ANA. We have been joined by many of the leadership groups within the organization, including the Cabinet for Labor Relations, the Executive Board of Unit 7, the Congress on Health & Safety, the Boards of Districts 2 and 3, and the leadership of nearly every MNA bargaining unit.

Why We Need to Disaffiliate Now

• We believe the organization needs to marshal its resources to address a growing budget deficit and to clear the way for a concentrated effort to pass landmark staffing legislation. More importantly, ANA is proposing a number of changes in June that could place our Association and our members in jeopardy.

• The ANA wants to make it mandatory that the MNA become part of the ANA's national union, the United American Nurses. Our attorney, Alan McDonald, has advised us that belonging to this union, because of the way it is structured, places every union contract in jeopardy, would prevent us from organizing new nurses, and would, at minimum, open the MNA to costly legal challenges.

• The ANA is proposing a dues increase of more than $35 for all of our members, along with additional assessments related to a proposed AFL-CIO affiliation. As the current MNA leadership is opposed to increases in dues, and as we are struggling with our own deficit budget, we believe the best course is to decide this issue as quickly as possible.

• Adding to our concern is ANA's proposal to add a new bylaw to allow them to discipline state nurses associations that disagree with their policies, which would include sanctioning the MNA for not wanting to participate in their national union. Once the bylaw is in effect, it is unlikely we will ever be able to leave ANA.

Do Not Believe the ANA Smear Campaign

In recent weeks, you may have may have been bothered at home by pre-recorded telephone messages concerning the upcoming vote on disaffiliation. You need to know that these calls do not originate from the MNA, but are part of a malicious smear campaign from the American Nurses Association, implemented in concert with a disgruntled minority of members among the leadership in District 5. Instead of arguing the merits of continued affiliation, they have engaged in a concerted effort to telephone members, file frivolous lawsuits, use direct mail and other means to slander the Association and the hard working volunteers and staff who represent you. There is not a shred of truth to any of their allegations and we deplore this behavior.

We view this as an unfortunate and unseemly attack on all members of the MNA, and a disservice to our profession. We are appalled that ANA is going to such great lengths to attack this organization, solely to hold onto your dues money. We urge you to contact the MNA directly if you have any questions or concerns related to this campaign and to carefully consider the real intention behind any information you receive from the ANA in this campaign.

Those who support disaffiliation do so because it is in the best interests of this organization and its members. We encourage you to consider the facts and our reasons based on those facts for disaffiliating from ANA. Most important of all, we urge you to come to the meeting on March 24, 2001 and cast your informed vote for an independent MNA. This is a struggle for the future of your Association, the MNA, and for our ability to continue to protect and defend our profession.

Registration Procedures

All MNA members in good standing are eligible to attend and vote at the business meeting and there is no cost to attend. Because the MNA office is not open on Saturday, there will not be no new membership recruitment on the day of the vote — non-members cannot join onsite for the purpose of voting.

To avoid long waiting lines getting into the meeting, which occurred at the last meeting, pre-registration for the meeting is strongly encouraged. While onsite registration is allowed, for those who pre-registered seating at the front of the meeting hall will be set aside.

To pre-register for the meeting you only need to do one of the following: call, write, fax or email Robin LeCain at MNA, providing your name and telephone number no later than March 19, 2001. She can be reached by phone: 781.830.5724; fax: 781.821.4445; or email: rlecain@mnarn.org.

We have enclosed a copy of the bylaw amendments, directions to the facility, as well as further information on this issue. Some members have inquired as to why there cannot be a mail-in secret ballot for this issue. As with the first vote, Article XXII of the MNA bylaws does not allow for this option.

Those who have the most to win as a result of a vote to disaffiliate from ANA are our members, members like you. We look forward to seeing you on March 24th!

Sincerely,
The MNA Board of Directors:

Denise Garlick,
President

Margaret O'Malley,
Vice-President

Kathleen Sperrazza,
Secretary

Elizabeth Joubert,
Treasurer

Sandy Eaton,
Director-at-Large

Mary Goodwin,
Director-at-Large

Barbara Norton,
Director-at-Large

Jeannine Williams,
Director-at-Large

Patricia Healey,
Director, District 1

Nora Watts,
Director, District 2

Stephanie Stevens,
Director, District 3

Norma Ouellette,
Director, District 4

Barry Adams,
Director, District 5

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