How powerful are hospital unions? - page 2

Eggs, Zachary... but they take in a whole lot of money.

The Divison of Organizing :kiss Massachusetts Nurses Association - Unionizing

Here's a good example.... " Do it my way,or the highway " with out a third party union...................... http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa...623606376.html

I have belonged to a union for 20 years. There are good and bad in all things. I don't think for what I pay per year in dues ($1000) there is enough support. My job still sucks. Management finds their way around our contract in some instances. I am a hard worker, but many of my co workers think 'God owes them a livin' and spend a lot of time on their fannies. And get away with it. There are certainly people who do a crappy job and should have been booted long ago, and are protected by the union. I don't think I would want to be a patient there.
Every time a contract negotiations year comes up (every 2-3 years) it's a NASTY costly battle. Really stressful. Not looking forward to it.

There are also the managers pets , who have there heads so far up the managers A... , you can only see their shoulders ,who don't know one end of a foley from the other and into which orifice , it should go , yet they recieve all the good schedules , patients etc..
As to firing the poor employee , I love all these pseudo managers who come up with this argument .The union cannot stop managment from firing somone they just ensure managment has to go through the set out hospital policy , applicable law and contract language ( you know a bit like us bedside nurses having to follow all these same things when we care for patients ) showing just cause for the termination , if managment does things correctly then the bad employee will be fired .

Let's be honest. A union only means that you are playing a different game. We have the power to improve other's lives. What makes that so cool is that it's so easy to blame other's for our inadequacies. ex. yeah, It'd work, but you / me is not in a union.

We need to empower ourselves. Otherwise, well... I'm O.K. are U? (with apologizes to B.f. Skinner.) Bet Nobody gets that.

Operant conditioning and negative feed back is mostly what we nurses experience. We need to get out of the "BIG SKINNER" box and seek help from where we may get it to protect us and all we have worked to accomplish. Seek knowledge, empower ourselves...patient outcome improvement, happier nurses.

Your union can do a lot for you. Choose your bargaining team well and have a steering committee that represents all areas of the hospital. They can meet before and during negotiations. All information that is taking place in negotiations can be disseminated to the rest of the staff and their valuable input can be implemented. Your union does not protect the slackers. It protects your rights to be treated fairly. If management documents incidents properly and the allegataions made are true, they will be fired. Create a staffing council within your contract that meets monthly to determine if short staffing allegations have occurred. Making the hospital pay a penalty to that unit affected can hit them where it hurts. If there is a pattern of short staffing then it show the need for hiring more staff. I you don't have a union holding their feet to the fire then it will continue. Remember YOU are your union. The union can help you but without you stepping up and responsibly reporting infractions nothing can be done. Get involved. It's your working life. It's your patient's lives.

Thank you for a confusing agreement. If I understand.

I didn't get it either. I guess that's pro union.

Sorry, Psychology got in the way of my answer, it is really a deep subject...Union's and CA...they seem to be doing good for the nurses there! Just like the teamsters did for my Dad....

O.K. pro - union. My point was different. I was attempting to convey the idea that we need not be helpless victims, we can respond "outside the box."

:My minority opinion is that unions are still "in the box."

The Skinner reference is still, ....missed. Hint: I was referencing his "pop-psy" books.

B. F. Skinner.....Out of the box.