Nurses Join AIDS March to "Heal America"

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)“Nurses heal America, that’s why we’re here today,” said RN Sandra Falwell, holding one end of a banner proclaiming “Nurses Say a Robin Hood Tax Can End HIV/AIDS” as thousands of health professionals -- many dressed in NNU’s bright red hospital scrubs and sporting green Robin Hood caps -- joined Tuesday’s “We Can End AIDS” march in downtown DC. “There’s no money for healthcare, and that’s why we’re supporting the Robin Hood tax on Wall Street, which would give us all the money we need.” Falwell, who works at Children’s Hospital, is a member of the DC Nurses Association, third Vice President of the Metro Washington Council and board member of National Nurses United. After gathering at Mount Vernon Square, where they were welcomed by Metro Council President Jos Williams, tens of thousands of activists marched through the streets, stopping to target banks and pharmaceutical companies along the way before rallying in Lafayette Park. Building on calls to tax Wall Street speculative activity, the Robin Hood Tax movement launched its website in the U.S. last month with protests at JPMorgan Chase branches around the country after revelations that the bank’s high-risk bets led to billions in losses.  Estimates of losses tied to the bank’s speculative trading now run as high as $9 billion. “Our patients without adequate healthcare, especially people with HIV/AIDS, our unemployed neighbors, our friends forced from their homes by foreclosures, our underfunded schools, poor infrastructure -- all this must be redressed now,” said Jean Ross, RN and co-president of NNU, a union and professional association of RNs with 175,000 members. “And the Robin Hood Tax is the way to get started.” - report/photos by Chris Garlock