Top 10 Reasons Against Unions

Nurses Union

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Top ten reasons why we don't want a union

10. the union doesn't write my paycheck.

9. unions would rather cause problems than work together.

8. union scale means the best workers are carrying the worst.

7. the people who want a union really need one.

6. too corrupt.

5. too political, too liberal and too partisan.

4. unions are only about power and money for the ones who run the union.

3. unions are negative about everything but how great they are.

2. I like to work steady.

1. I've got too much self respect.

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Specializes in MDS/Office.

Where I live, Nurses aren't unionized, so I don't know much about pros/cons. I do know that Teachers are & they seem to have it pretty good......

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My hospital is about to vote on unionization. The story they tell is of course pretty rosy so I've been looking around for potential negative consequences to unionization and have naturally been reading your posts.

I've got to tell you, your credibility with me took a good hit with this drivel. " I like to work steady." Seems to me unionization protects staffing ratios and provides compensation for cancellations. "I've got too much self respect." Are you kidding me? I have too much self respect to blindly follow anyone without finding out the facts for myself but this is just plain insulting.

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You do seem like kind of a sad individual to continue spewing your vitriolic insults against all the thousands of great nurses who are proud to belong to a union.

I was a nurse manager for 13 years and had stepped down from that about 3 years before we organized our hospital. Just before the campaign started, the CEO of the hospital called me and said that they wanted to do a nurse recruitment campaign and that since I was one of their very best nurses they wanted to feature my picture in that campaign. Management were pretty unhappy a few months later to find me one of the leaders in organizing.

Since that time we have more than doubled our salary, protected and improved our benefits, joined with thousands of other nurse around the state to implement and protect the first real nurse staffing legislation in the country. That legislation, along with protection for whistleblowers and legal protection for the nurse's patient advocacy role are purely the fruit of our union. Every year our representatives at the state capital turn back a dozen or so laws designed to take away parts of RN practice and let lesser trained people do our jobs. I'm spending the last few days in Texas helping out on an organizing campaign and next week I'll be meeting about a thousand other nurses in Washington DC to advocate for national versions of the staffing ratio bill and other protections for our practice. So you can keep you fantasies about what you imagine unions are - But many thousands of us know better.

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Specializes in icu/er.

chico david, it is nurses like you and hundreds of others that go out and spread the word and educate the rest of us on the advantages of the unions are really doing some of the best services to nursing in our lifetime. My grandmother was a nurse for over half her life, and she just smiles when i discuss nursing unions with her, she tells me the horror stories of working before nursing unions and the difficulties they had and how they were treated. she once told me there is no telling how many pts lives could have been saved if pt:staff ratios were inacted then. but it is advocates like you guys that are really pushing nursing into the future, ya'll are giving nurses a chance to grab hold of their profession...my profession and i thank you for it. one day if the union train ever comes to the deep south i pray it stops in mississippi and lays the tracks for collective bargaining. there are thousands of us here with eyes looking at texas..if texas can do it why not mississippi or alabama. thnak you chico david and the others like you.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I wonder what personal axe the OP has to grind ... My guess is he/she has some personal beef that is fueling this.

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You do seem like kind of a sad individual to continue spewing your vitriolic insults against all the thousands of great nurses who are proud to belong to a union.

I was a nurse manager for 13 years and had stepped down from that about 3 years before we organized our hospital. Just before the campaign started, the CEO of the hospital called me and said that they wanted to do a nurse recruitment campaign and that since I was one of their very best nurses they wanted to feature my picture in that campaign. Management were pretty unhappy a few months later to find me one of the leaders in organizing.

Since that time we have more than doubled our salary, protected and improved our benefits, joined with thousands of other nurse around the state to implement and protect the first real nurse staffing legislation in the country. That legislation, along with protection for whistleblowers and legal protection for the nurse's patient advocacy role are purely the fruit of our union. Every year our representatives at the state capital turn back a dozen or so laws designed to take away parts of RN practice and let lesser trained people do our jobs. I'm spending the last few days in Texas helping out on an organizing campaign and next week I'll be meeting about a thousand other nurses in Washington DC to advocate for national versions of the staffing ratio bill and other protections for our practice. So you can keep you fantasies about what you imagine unions are - But many thousands of us know better.

After reading many posts here about unions, this seems to be the typical repsonse. If others disagree with the union movement in nursing, then lets insult them, tell them how they have no idea about what they're saying, and make it seem as though unions are the end-all to all problems in nursing. Are they vitiriolic insults because you don't agree? Seems as though free speech and unions don't go together! Are those against unions not allowed their opinion? I've been in nursing over 14yrs without a union, so it can be done without having others speak for you or having to blindly give your money(dues) away to an organization that does very little.

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After reading many posts here about unions, this seems to be the typical repsonse. If others disagree with the union movement in nursing, then lets insult them, tell them how they have no idea about what they're saying, and make it seem as though unions are the end-all to all problems in nursing. Are they vitiriolic insults because you don't agree? Seems as though free speech and unions don't go together! Are those against unions not allowed their opinion? I've been in nursing over 14yrs without a union, so it can be done without having others speak for you or having to blindly give your money(dues) away to an organization that does very little.

I'll point out that the original poster started off with vicious insults against the character of nurses who support unions. My comment on that fact seems pretty mild in comparison. Beyond that,I'll simply refer you back again to my previous post and the list of things our union has accomplished and is accomplishing every year. Those are the things that our union does do. If that is your idea of very little, so be it. And even without all of that, in salary alone our union dues are the best investment I've ever made. Before we organized we were typically getting an increase of around 2-3 % per year, some years none at all. Since organizing, 5-6 %. Even at the most conserative estimate I'm making 10-15,000 more a year than I would be without a union. So at the low end, that's a 1000% annual return on my dues. Let's see, I could maybe make 2% a year in a CD these days. Hmmm, - 2% vs 1,000%? Not that hard a choice.

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Specializes in ICU/CCU/TRAUMA/ECMO/BURN/PACU/.
Seems as though free speech and unions don't go together! Are those against unions not allowed their opinion? I've been in nursing over 14yrs without a union, so it can be done without having others speak for you or having to blindly give your money(dues) away to an organization that does very little.

Hi, Viral! Since you've not been a union member, your lack of practical experience and first-hand knowledge about union organizing and membership is forgiveable. There's nothing blind about the process, unless one chooses to put their head in the sand and keep their hands in their pockets in the face of injustice.

The key to our democracy in this country is an educated, informed, and engaged citizenry. The democratic process makes unions stronger too. Since the inception of modern nursing in this country, pioneer nursing leaders have advocated for union membership, women's suffrage, the end of child labor and sweatshops, workers' compensation, an end to forced overtime and other abusive working conditions that drives nurses from the bedside and makes hospitals unsafe for patients.

Our right to free speech about union affairs (in the union and in public) is very broad and includes e-mail and web speech. Like our right to free speech, our right to organize with our coworkers is explicit in the law as well.

You may want to consider the fact that although you don't currently belong to a union, the good working conditions and benefits (I presume) you enjoy, were collectively fought for by unionized nurses. Most hospitals offer similar benefits to attract and retain nurses. So if you have good benefits, thank a union member.

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[color=#808000]top ten reasons why we don't want a union

10. the union doesn't write my paycheck.

9. unions would rather cause problems than work together.

8. union scale means the best workers are carrying the worst.

7. the people who want a union really need one.

6. too corrupt.

5. too political, too liberal and too partisan.

4. unions are only about power and money for the ones who run the union.

3. unions are negative about everything but how great they are.

2. i like to work steady.

1. i've got too much self respect.

i'd like to add to this list:

10. the union doesn't write my pay check. right on! why should i rely on a union contract to guarantee my pay? i love the thrill of knowing that my employer can cut my pay at any time for no reason whatsoever.

9. unions would rather cause problems than work together. so true! after all, it was unions who fought for and won most of the worker safety regulations in this country. what a bunch of troublemakers!

8. union scale means the best workers are carrying the worst. amen! why should experience and years on the job guarantee you a minimum wage? and if management repeatedly fails to take action against the worst workers, let's blame it all on the union. well said!

7. the people who want a union really need one. absolutely. last week, nurses in my local paper were quoted as saying they wished they had a union. why? because they'd just had all their differentials cut, been stripped of earned time for two months and been notified that their hospital's contributions to their retirement funds had been eliminated to save money. no union contract, no guarantee. so you're absolutely right: they need a union. too bad that it's too late!

6. too corrupt. unions are as corrupt as the people who belong to them, complain about them, and do nothing to improve them. you know -- like the people who collect union benefits but only b*tch about them? of course, you'd never do that.

5. too political, too liberal and too partisan. couldn't have said it better. why are these unions always backing pro-labor candidates, anyway? if they went the conservative route, they could back pols who lead the charge against oh, say, worker safety, food inspections and unemployment benefits. why is it that these unions always back candidates that protect workers -- workers who really don't need unions, right?

4. unions are only about power and money for the ones who run the union. right on! my union reps were compensated by having their dues waived for one year in exchange for one year of what amounted to volunteer service. greedy b*astards! i mean, they really should have spent all those hours in labor negotiations, arbritration and grievance sessions for free, don't you think?

3. unions are negative about everything but how great they are. yes, yes, yes! i remember when my union complained that the company was violating the terms of its contract by effectively denying workers overtime, even when they were working in excess of 60 hours a week. it was the union that made sure the employer paid those workers by complaining. the nerve! so negative.

2. i like to work steady. hmm. not sure what you mean by this one.

1. i've got too much self respect. sorry. can't hear you over your employer's laughter. s/he banks on people like you. literally.

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Hi, Viral! Since you've not been a union member, your lack of practical experience and first-hand knowledge about union organizing and membership is forgiveable. There's nothing blind about the process, unless one chooses to put their head in the sand and keep their hands in their pockets in the face of injustice.

The key to our democracy in this country is an educated, informed, and engaged citizenry. The democratic process makes unions stronger too. Since the inception of modern nursing in this country, pioneer nursing leaders have advocated for union membership, women's suffrage, the end of child labor and sweatshops, workers' compensation, an end to forced overtime and other abusive working conditions that drives nurses from the bedside and makes hospitals unsafe for patients.

Our right to free speech about union affairs (in the union and in public) is very broad and includes e-mail and web speech. Like our right to free speech, our right to organize with our coworkers is explicit in the law as well.

You may want to consider the fact that although you don't currently belong to a union, the good working conditions and benefits (I presume) you enjoy, were collectively fought for by unionized nurses. Most hospitals offer similar benefits to attract and retain nurses. So if you have good benefits, thank a union member.

No offense but I'm not looking for forgiveness. I do, however, disagree with nursing unions. Those of us who don't feel as though unions are a benefit are afforded the same right of free speech in advocating against that which we feel is wrong. There are too many aspects of unions that just do not appeal to me!

As far as giving unions considerations for what I make and the benefits I enjoy, Hogwash! I live in a RTW state and enjoy my job at the hospital without union representation or paying dues! I don't have the worry of striking or senority vs performance based raises and perks, or having to pay dues.

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Specializes in MDS/Office.
No offense but I'm not looking for forgiveness. I do, however, disagree with nursing unions. Those of us who don't feel as though unions are a benefit are afforded the same right of free speech in advocating against that which we feel is wrong. There are too many aspects of unions that just do not appeal to me!

As far as giving unions considerations for what I make and the benefits I enjoy, Hogwash! I live in a RTW state and enjoy my job at the hospital without union representation or paying dues! I don't have the worry of striking or senority vs performance based raises and perks, or having to pay dues.

You wouldn't be in Management, would you?

Just wondering....... :smokin:

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