Democratic presidential candidate senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Has announced an approval Tuesday of National Nurses United, the largest union of registered nurses in the US

The group cited Sanders’ ‘Medicare for All’ proposal as one of the reasons why it supported the Senator’s White House bid in Vermont.



“We are so proud that Bernie Sanders and NNU together elevated Medicare for All to the national mainstream in 2016, where it has become a top 2020 presidential racing issue,” said the group director, Bonnie Castillo, in a statement. “Nurses are tired of seeing our patients suffer and die unnecessarily, simply because of the inability to pay, and we know that Bernie is and has been Sanders and led Medicare for All through his advocacy and senate legislation.”

The union also mentioned Sanders’ work platform, including his Workplace Democracy Act and his support for the law on the protection of the right to organize; both accounts strengthen the power of trade unions throughout the country and raise wages.

The union, which also threw its support behind Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primary, is planning to officially support Sanders at an event in Oakland, California, on Friday.

The group has more than 150,000 members across the country and is a strong supporter of Medicare for All.

The approval is a victory for Sanders, who has tried to separate himself from fellow top candidate and progressive senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

Warren has climbed to the top of the primary democratic field in a number of polls and has pushed her own version of Medicare for All.

Sanders criticized Warren’s plan in an interview last week and said it could harm employees in the long run.

“If you put a $ 9,500 head tax on a company that hires employees for $ 40,000 or $ 50,000 dollars, that’s a big hit.” Sanders told the “deconstructed” podcast.