The Federation of Nurses/UFT’s fighting spirit was on full display at the union’s annual Professional Issues Conference on Friday, Nov. 20, and Saturday, Nov. 21. About 250 nurses turned out for the event, which included panels on the politics of health care and the challenges faced by practitioners, addresses by union officials and a plethora of workshops on everything from time management to women’s health.

“This is a union house,” UFT Vice President for Non-DOE Members Anne Goldman, who also heads the Federation of Nurses/UFT, told the gathering at the Westin in Midtown Manhattan after a spirited performance of “Solidarity Forever” by the New York City Labor Chorus. There are two sides in health care, she said: You can either be a “businessperson” making a profit by managing insurance or you can be a union member and “committed to excellent care for all those we serve.”

The Federation of Nurses/UFT chapter represents nearly 5,000 nurses at a variety of private-sector hospitals and health-care agencies.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew did not mince words in his comments about the Koch brothers and other opponents of the labor movement, who he said are trying to take away workers’ right to organize.

“Will they ever treat us fairly if we don’t have our collective voice?” Mulgrew asked. “No. They would treat all of us like dirt.”

Every right was won with a fight, he said. “No one gives us a thing,” he said. “Every single letter in our contracts is blood, sweat and tears.”

Paul Egan, the union’s political action director, told the nurses during a panel on the politics of health care that Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Association, a lawsuit now before the U.S. Supreme Court that challenges public-sector unions’ right to collect fees from non-members covered by a collective-bargaining agreement, “could be the death knell of the labor movement or it could be the rebirth of the labor movement.”

Egan stressed the urgency of voting in the November 2016 presidential elections, reminding the nurses that the next president could have the opportunity to make as many as four appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“If we put the wrong person in the White House, we could feel the impact for the next quarter century,” he said. “Everybody needs to be registered to vote. Everybody needs to get out and vote.”

John Greene of the New York State United Teachers, the UFT’s statewide affiliate, briefed the group on state politics, while Kelly Trautner of the American Federation of Teachers spoke to them about the national political scene.

Participants attended their choice of workshops on topics such as mental health issues in schools and innovations in patient care. In a workshop on emerging infectious diseases, participants learned about specific diseases like Ebola and avian flu and what they can do to help identify and manage them, while in another, on nursing documentation, they reviewed the most common charting errors and how to avoid them.

Karin Schyboll, a registered nurse at the Visiting Nurse Service, said the workshop on physical assessment, which taught participants different techniques to assess patients’ symptoms, will help her on a daily basis.

“It’s what we do as nurses,” Schyboll said. “You start your assessment of the patient the moment you walk in the room.”

Lutheran Medical Center nurse Doris Acevedo praised the workshop on coping with anxiety and depression.

“They taught a lot of techniques — meditation, breathing, imagery — to relax, reduce your stress and be mindful of your surroundings,” Acevedo said. “It’s something you can use with your patients as well if they’re stressed.”