The fighting spirit of the Federation of Nurses/UFT was readily apparent at the group’s 34th annual Professional Issues Conference held on Nov. 22 and 23 at the Westin hotel in midtown Manhattan.

In her welcoming remarks to the roughly 250 registered and licensed practical nurses assembled for the conference, UFT Vice President Anne Goldman described the unbridled greed, unrelenting drive for profits and anti-union animus that she said nurses must contend with in the health care industry today.

As unionized nurses, Goldman told them, they must stand up for their patients and themselves — and be prepared for the employer to strike back.

“The targeting of our union is calculated and deliberate,” she said. “They are trying to divide us.”

Goldman offered as an example the situation at the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, where 270 nurses and other employees have been laid off.

“Their intention is to minimize union voice,” she said. “I’m here to tell you that’s not happening.”

UFT President Michael Mulgrew also delivered words of solidarity for the nurses at VNS.

“We will stand up to them every time they try to do something against the contract,” he said.

The nurses’ fight for fairness in the workplace is part of a larger fight for social and economic justice for working people across the city, he said. Now, with a new mayor entering office, Mulgrew said the balance of forces in that fight may be shifting.

“New York City now faces the opportunity to reverse the income inequality which has grown in every city,” he said.

Maria Fernandez, the federation’s chapter chair at GuildNet, was also hopeful. After years of working without the protection of a union, the nurses at GuildNet voted to join the UFT in May 2011 and settled their first contract last January.

“Today, coming here, meeting new people and hearing you speak, I felt, ‘I am not alone!’” Fernandez exclaimed to loud applause.

Her words resonated strongly with Lutheran Medical Center nurse Lilibeth Delacruz, who had also once worked in a non-union hospital.

“It helps that there’s a union that will take care of you and fight for you,” she said. “It’s good to be part of a community. I’m not alone, and I don’t have to be scared.”

In addition to the speakers, conference attendees were treated to a wide array of workshops on such varied topics as social media, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pediatric diabetes, case management and Gangs and You, an in-depth presentation by gang specialist Ron “Cook” Barrett on how to recognize the signs of gang membership.

There was also a panel discussion on the politics of health care and a special session on health care challenges, featuring American Federation of Teachers Healthcare Director Mary MacDonald.

Jessica Patino, a registered nurse at Lutheran Medical Center for six years, attended a workshop on cultural competency, which she said she found very helpful.

“It put the way we treat our patients in perspective,” she said. “We need to understand where our patients come from and how to respond to their culture to make their visit to our institution a better one.”

Jeanmarie Luciano, who has attended the conference for two out of the three years that she has worked as a nurse, said she has already become a staunch supporter of her union. The conference, she said, gives her faith that change is possible.

“It always feels good to come here,” she said.

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Miller Photography