On Oct. 25, Tonjanika Webster joined a line of nurses on Canal Street, outside of New Orleans’ University Medical Center. Some, like Webster, wore scrubs. Others, red for their union, National Nurses United. A giant banner reading “UMC Proud” unfurled over the hospital’s facade, while Beyonce and Taylor Swift echoed out of giant speakers, punctuated by approving honks from drivers. The air was jubilant, like a party, but it was a picket line. It was also Louisiana’s first-ever strike of private-sector nurses.
Unlike in high-profile strikes such as that of the United Auto Workers in 2023, however, the nurses sought more than improvements to their jobs. They wanted a first contract negotiated by their union — the very document that establishes ground rules for improving their jobs. In the process, they joined a nationwide surge in short, pre-contract strikes following a spate of union organizing. (Disclosure: National Nurses United is a funder of Capital & Main.)
