Injustice makes
us angry.
Anger makes us act.
We confront unfairness head on. Even if we’re told to go away. We may not be the loudest because anger can be exhausting. But we will not be bullied. We will not stand down. We will make them see us, hear us, appreciate us.
Our power comes from who we are.
We grow from grassroots.
We’ve defied many social expectations and workplace norms that discriminate against us as professionals. We’ve fought against unjust treatment, contracts and policies as a bold community of ONA members. The last fifty years have proven that. We will continue to honour our identity as a member-led movement of more than 68,000 individuals. Our power to create change comes from that. It comes from our solidarity and from local action. It comes from every one of us.
We won't let anyone define our identity.
We refuse to be compared.
No politician would work a day in our shoes. No firefighter would tolerate our workplaces. No steelworker could stomach what we have to. Why do we get taken for granted? Why are we considered inferior? Why do we get told how we should look, think and feel? We’re highly educated professionals who make life-saving decisions in complex workplaces every day. We are ONA members. We won’t let anyone tell us otherwise.
We will make them pay attention.
We’re taking back control.
When our workplaces fall apart, we hold them together. We’re indispensable and badass. When we come together, we can restore the power that decades of mistreatment, burnout and unappreciation took away from us. We’re in control of how we fight and how we do it.
Together, we will reclaim our nobility.
We are a union for us, by us.
Our professions deserve respect, admiration and proper compensation. We will do what it takes to make sure we have all three at all times. We will show up together. We will fight local. We will stand up for what we love in our Bristol board colour-inspired signs, t-shirts and placards. We will be proud of who we are again.
