New national nurses union forms

Nurses Union

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A new national union of up to 154,000 registered nurses was created in Phoenix today, replacing one of the most aggressive nurse unions in the industry and combining its membership with two other nurse-only labor groups to form National Nurses United. ...

...The NNU will be governed by three co-presidents drawn from the three founding organizations. The Massachusetts group brings 23,000 members, the UAN brings up to 45,000 and the CNA/NNOC includes 86,000 nurses. Higgins said the three-member presidency was formed as "an equal partnership." ...

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20091207/FREE/312079955#

To PICUPNP- With an advanced degree I would think one would have learned to express one's opinnions with more eloquence and restraint. I think all on this forum are entitled to their opinnions- which are largely based from one's own experiences- some more vast than others. You sound more AFRAID of union's, possibly because you have no experience with them. This discussion is not so much about who wears a lab coat or not , however, there IS a difference in the treatment of the wearer of one- sorry to let the cat out of the bag! This discussion is about fair wages, safe staffing, playing by US government labor laws, and workplace violence ( blatent disrespect on management's part to their staff nurses) Since management also has advanced degrees ( whether they be business administration, or nursing) their behavior does not speak too well for their education. So what can one conclude from this- that advanced education gives one the right to ignore the personal rights of others??!!. I have always thought the sign of a truely educated person was being able to listen with an open mind, possibly learning something from the DIAGLOG, but at the very least respecting the other's opinnion with out attacking them. I think the tone of your posts makes a good case for why unions are needed, with or without the 'labcoat' and doesn't make too good a case for advanced nursing degrees. I'm offended by the tone being a felllow RN.

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A union DOES have the right to view personnel files, if the union has reason to believe that diciplines, terminations, layoffs etc. are suspicious in nature ( complaints from their unionized staff nurses) they most certainly do have the right to view those files. Incidently, this is where a large % of union dues are spent- management's screw-ups, defamation of character, and failure to play by US GOVERNMENT established LABOR LAWS- we do have them( U.S. Department of Labor.gov.) If I were a part of a 'dirty' management team now a days, I'd be afraid of union talk too.

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To PICUPNP- I don't mean to scare you- but my former union Pres. ( an ER nurse) from 1980-2002 moved to TEXAS. Merry Christmas from Philly!!

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Yes I have a MSN and no, I personally don't care what you think about my eloquence or restraint. As far as being offended, that wasn't my intention. Why would I be afraid of something that will never gain a substantial foothold in Texas? Its not about being afraid, but it is about informing nurses as to the misinformation spread by unions. They are every bit as underhanded, if not more so, as some of the hospital administrations.

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To PICUPNP- I don't mean to scare you- but my former union Pres. ( an ER nurse) from 1980-2002 moved to TEXAS. Merry Christmas from Philly!!

I sincerely hope she has a good job outside unionizing nurses, because she won't have a very good income in Texas!

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Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.

If a union buster asked me, "Why hasn't anyone explained to me reason being only 5% of RNs being unionized?", I could find the FACT that an average of 38% of hospital nurses are unionized.

The most unionized states average 49%.

The least are 4% and 5%..

This is data from 1995 - 2005

Most and least unionized states for hospital nurses: Union density

Most unionized

Hawaii - 70%

Washington - 60%

Minnesota - 58%

New York - 53%

Oregon - 45%

Alaska - 43%

Rhode Island - 42%

California - 41%

Montana - 40%

Massachusetts - 36%

Average 49%

Source: Institute for Women's Policy Research analysis of September 1995 through April 2005 Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group files.

http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/C363.pdf

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Specializes in ER, Psych, Telephone Triage.

Unionize improve the Nurses Work environment, improve Pt. care, improve my income and benefits!!!!!!

Most hospitals in San Diego are Unionized! Nurses realize it is the best way to go!

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Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The FIRST AMENDMENT guarantees our legal right to talk about how to improve patient care and working conditions of nurses and our right to meet together. I think it is time for DFW hospital workers to discuss how to stop the harmful actions of Group One.

Recent Texas post regarding Group One - https://allnurses.com/texas-nurses/group-one-background-108647-page26.html#post4038942

Link to thread - https://allnurses.com/texas-nurses/group-one-background-108647-page26.html#post4038942

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Thanks for the update on the first amendment! As far as your percentages in the previous post, these are all Forced Unionism states...who would have thunk it. Of course there will be very high percentages in states where RNs have no say in whether or not they have to pay dues, they can't work without paying the dues in forced unionism states! What a wonderful thought....having to pay out money in order to be employed. This is definitely a concept I don't understand. If the unions are so wonderful, why aren't your percentages of unionized nurses just as high in the Right To Work states? No one would pay the dues. The RTW states don't hold any financial incentives for the unions. How could they continue paying the president of the national union almost $200K/yr without all of those precious dues coming in from all of the smiling RNs out there??? Money is what unions are all about!

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Thanks for the update on the first amendment! As far as your percentages in the previous post, these are all Forced Unionism states...who would have thunk it. Of course there will be very high percentages in states where RNs have no say in whether or not they have to pay dues, they can't work without paying the dues in forced unionism states! What a wonderful thought....having to pay out money in order to be employed. This is definitely a concept I don't understand. If the unions are so wonderful, why aren't your percentages of unionized nurses just as high in the Right To Work states? No one would pay the dues. The RTW states don't hold any financial incentives for the unions. How could they continue paying the president of the national union almost $200K/yr without all of those precious dues coming in from all of the smiling RNs out there??? Money is what unions are all about!

What a sad, narrow view of the world. Remember that every single unionized workplace is unionized because the workers there made a democratic choice to be unionized. That's generally the way we do things in this country. And even when my union might do things I don't agree with, I pay dues for the many benefits I get, just like I pay taxes even when I don't agree with the government in power at the moment - because that's the way we do things in this country. I volunteer a lot of time to be a leader in my union because I see the good it does for my workplace and my profession and my patients and because it has done so much good for me personally in better wages and benefits. And even those nurses not in unions benefit from the standards that union nurses work and sacrifice for. Actually, it's business and the business model of health care that are all about money - unions are all about the power that comes from being united and standing together. You harp on that salary like it's a lot of money, but as I said elsewhere the CEO at the modest sized rural community non-profit hospital where I work makes more than 3 times that much. It's a bargain by any standard.

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Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.

Tell my if I am wrong. I think Nevada is a "right to work state".

http://www.calnurses.org/nnoc/nevada/

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Tell my if I am wrong. I think Nevada is a "right to work state".

http://www.calnurses.org/nnoc/nevada/

Of course Nevada is in a somewhat unusual postion, in that its two largest cities sit right on the border of a highly unionized state, so they get to have a front-row seat to see the benefits that brings. And the nurses who have unionized there recently have been able to leverage their proximity to California to gain exceptional standards very quickly - like getting the California staffing ratio put into their contracts without having to go through the ten year fight that California nurses went through to win that law. A good example of the way that nurses can pull each other up through unionizing and that we don't always have to repeat the fights that our sisters and brothers went through.

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