Retirees - Sonia

Sonia MoselEy

California

When Sonia Moseley moved to Los Angeles from St. Louis in the 1960s to begin her nursing career, she took a job at a hospital owned by Kaiser Permanente as a clinic nurse. Wanting to advance her training, she entered a program to become a nurse practitioner, an emerging specialty back then. However, after she completed intensive training, the doctors she worked with expressed doubt about the program’s viability at the hospital. If the nurse practitioner program had been scrapped, Moseley would’ve been out of a job.

"Nothing's guaranteed.

Pictured: Sonia Mosely (right) in 1972, at the birth of United Nurses of California (UNAC), an all-RN union Photo Credit: UNAC/UHCP

Pictured: Members of UNAC fight for safer staffing ratios Photo Credit: UNAC/UHCP

That ignited her union activism, which would propel her through her career. “Back then, nursing pay was very low. I could remember my paycheck being around $200. You had low security, poor benefits … we didn’t even have dental insurance,” recalled Moseley. After talking with nurses at other Kaiser Permanente hospitals throughout the L.A. area, Moseley discovered that others shared many of the same problems. The widespread discontentment sparked a hunger for unified action to organize, resulting in one of the first contracts with Kaiser Permanente in 1974. “We got a lot of people involved. We were successful and eventually we became the highest paid nurses with some of the best wages and working conditions in Southern California,” said Moseley.

That first union, the United Nurses of California (UNAC), later affiliated with the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees (NUHHCE) in 1988, which later affiliated with AFSCME in 1989. The call to give health care workers a voice remained with Moseley and she eventually left nursing to become a full-time union leader and health care worker advocate, enjoying roles as executive vice president and organizing director of UNAC/UHCP, vice president for nursing for NUHHCE, and a consultant with United Nurses of America, a professional group of nurses within AFSCME. Now, as a retiree leader for UNAC, Moseley says the secret to organizing, to building momentum, is much the same as it was in the early 1970s: “All you’ve got to do is ask people to get involved. They want to participate.” Her message to younger union members is simple. “Nothing’s guaranteed,” said Moseley. “When I talk to young nurses, they don’t always know the history, or how the union got there. You have to tell them how we fought for the benefits they have now. They have to fight to keep them.”

Pictured: Sonia Moseley addresses the audience at a member conference Courtesy of AFSCME Archives, Wayne State University

Sonia’s story is part of a longer series about how AFSCME Retirees fought for the rights and freedoms we enjoy today. They share their lessons for younger generations.

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When I talk to young nurses, they don’t always know the history, or how the union got there. You have to tell them how we fought for the benefits they have now. They have to fight to keep them."

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