Montana Nurses Association

_{Montana Nurses Association}


20 Old Montana State Highway ~ Montana City, MT 59634

Phone 406-442-6710 ~ Fax 406-442-1841

This is an historic opportunity…for the NFN, for AFT, for each of our states and for each and every one of our members. Affiliation will bring a dizzying array of benefits for each of the organizations, each state and for each of our members. The following is a partial list of the range of benefits that you, your state nursing union, your national nursing union and your profession will enjoy as a result of affiliation with AFT.

AFT is known for its advocacy for high professional standards, promoting respect for the nursing profession, demanding high standards in workplace safety and for championing quality patient care. Joined together, the NFN and the AFT will be even stronger and more effective in championing our professional agenda which, ultimately, will benefit you and your patients. Your state’s Montana’s ability to access the resources and strength of a 1.5million member union means that you will benefit from:

• 
  Rock solid, iron-clad protection from raids and outside interference by other unions
  
• 
  Additional resources dedicated to expanded organizing and growing our membership
  
• 
  Stronger contracts as a result of improved research and legal advice
  
• 
  Professional development opportunities such as elected leadership roles and nursing practice education
  
• 
  Greater personal influence on state and national legislation and politics as a result of AFT’s increased resources and national expertise
  

• 
  Corporate/Commercial benefits such as entertainment discounts, car rental rates, hotel discounts, vacation rental discounts, health club discounts, and more.
  
• 
  Legal and Financial Services such as discounted legal advice, credit and personal budget counseling, credit cards, mortgage services, retirement planning, and more.
  
• 
  Discounts on shopping such as the AFT Advantage program (providing 10-70% discounts on electronics, apparel, home furnishings, etc), flowers, books, magazine subscriptions and mobile phone discounts.
  

• 
  Affiliation will bring together the more than 30,000 NFN members and the more than 40,000 Registered Nurses currently represented by the AFT into one of the largest, most influential national Nursing labor organizations in American history.
  
• 
  The joining together of NFN and AFT will enhance the voice and power of nurses to advocate for quality care for their patients, uphold high standards for the nursing profession, and improve working conditions for nurses and other health care professionals across the nation.
  
• 
  Bringing the NFN and AFT’s current nursing affiliates together will dramatically strengthen our legislative and policy goals at a national level, helping to ensure that nurses have a voice in health care reform and other crucial national issues.
  
• 
  Our combined expertise and commitment to the principles of the labor movement will help increase the influence of labor unions nationally and improve the lives of the nurses whose lives are improved through collective bargaining and action.
  

• 
  This affiliation agreement includes iron-clad protections for the NFN’s autonomy and self-governance systems, ensuring that the NFN’s unique structure and respect for transparency and democratic principles remain unchanged.
  
• 
  The agreement ensures that the NFN and nursing will have a stronger, more influential voice within the AFT nationally, including the appointment (within 30 days of ratification) of an NFN representative on the AFT’s national Executive Committee.
  
• 
  The NFN will also have a powerful voice at the AFT Convention; through the member states, the NFN will have approximately 330 voting delegates to the national AFT convention.
  
• 
  The NFN will have access to a wide range of professional services and AFT staff expertise (including policy analysis, communications, legal counsel, organizing strategy, lobbying, technical assistance and more) without having to hire and maintain that staff.
  
• 
  The agreement includes protections for the NFN to ensure that, in the event of dissolution of the agreement, all NFN assets remain property of the NFN.
  

• 
  Each NFN state will also directly affiliate with AFT, and the affiliation agreement includes iron-clad protections for individual state autonomy.
  
• 
  The agreement includes protections for each NFN member state to ensure that, in the event of dissolution of the agreement, all assets will remain property of the individual state.
  
• 
  NFN member states will have full membership, governance and participatory rights within AFT on the same basis as all other AFT affiliates, meaning that each NFN state will be seen as a key partner in its own right within the AFT.
  
• 
  In recognition of the importance of our members’ dual affiliation with ANA, AFT will allocate resources for this affiliation on the same basis as AFT allocates such resources for AFT locals dually affiliated with the National Education Association, among others. These resource allocations will equal 50% of AFT dues.
  
• 
  Each NFN state will be able to directly participate in programs, meetings and conferences of the AFT Nurse and Allied Health Professional Division and for appointments to the AFT Registered Nurse Program and Policy Council.
  
• 
  To promote unity and solidarity, NFN member states will be invited to participate in a wide range of events, meetings & professional development programs of mutual benefit and interest.
  
• 
  Support for NFN member states will be provided on the same basis as other AFT locals. Those services and programs include (but are not limited to): Organizing, Research, Legal Counsel, Communications and Legislative Policy
  
• 
  AFT will pay the AFL-CIO per capita dues on all collective bargaining members
  
• 
  Immediately upon each state’s ratification of the affiliation agreement, that state will be eligible for all protections and procedures under Article XX and XXI of the AFL-CIO Constitution. This protection is crucial to ensure the safety, strength and longevity of each state nursing association and to protect us from outside interference or raids from other AFL-CIO unions.
  
• 
  Should the NFN or any member state experience outside interference or raids, AFT will pay full costs of defending and protecting NFN and NLO jurisdictional and representational rights under the Article XX and XXI procedures.