Nurses to Send Message to President Obama, Join RNs From Across Globe at G-20 Summit Nov. 3 as Call Grows for Financial Transaction Tax

WASHINGTON, October 21, 2011 -

With a growing international call for a tax on financial transactions (FTT) to heal global economies, the largest U.S. union of registered nurses delegation will join with other nurses from around the world at the G-20 Summit of world leaders November 3 in Cannes, to support a global FTT.

National Nurses United is calling on the Obama administration to support the global movement for a FTT. To emphasize that point, the nurses will also hold a protest at the U.S. Treasury Department on November 3.

“It is long past time for Secretary Geithner and President Obama to get on board with other world leaders in supporting this common sense approach to raise badly needed revenues to help fund the critical programs we need to revive the U.S. and other global economies,” said NNU Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro.

Prompted by mounting calls initiated by labor, environmental, community, and non-governmental organizations, the European Commission has proposed a European wide FTT to help raise the funds needed to address poverty, fund sustainable jobs and environmental policies and strengthen quality public services.  

With support from even conservative governments in Germany and France, a proposal for adopting FTTs is expected to be on the agenda at the G-20 summit. But the Obama administration and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner have been a major impediment with Geithner actively lobbying against it.

NNU members have been rallying for a tax on trades of stocks, bonds, currencies, credit default swaps, and other major Wall Street transactions, for months, including marches by over 1,000 nurses and allies in June on Wall Street in New York, and in Washington.

In France on November 3, NNU and other PSI members will join with the International Trade Union Confederation and other allies, including Oxfam, in a colorful action at the G-20 Summit in Cannes where nurses will take symbolic emergency measures and inject an FTT to resuscitate the ailing global economy. NNU is affiliated with PSI which represents 20 million public service workers in 150 countries.

Carl Ginsburg, +1-917-405-1060, or Charles Idelson, +1-510-273-2246