National Conference for Union Representatives in the Healthcare Industry
This conference, co-hosted in alternate years by the University of Illinois and Michigan State University, brings together union representatives from all the different unions that represent workers in the healthcare industry.
The central theme of the conference is the union perspective on a workplace that is undergoing transformation technologically, socially and economically. Workshops and plenaries address current issues such as contrasts among proposed universal healthcare delivery systems, the impact of electronic record keeping, the nursing staff shortage, integrating immigrant healthcare workers into the workforce, dealing with medical errors, leadership development among rank-and-file, internal and external organizing, nurse-patient staff ratios and community-based coalitions as a strategy to support coordinated bargaining.
The 2007 conference in Chicago drew over 100 representatives from all the major healthcare unions. The 2008 conference will be held in Las Vegas.