Would you ever be a scab?

[klone]

Due to a short stint in travel nursing, I am now on the email list of several travel nursing companies. I just received an email from one company, talking about how they're gearing up to send 300+ nurses out to Maine, in anticipation of a strike.

They're only guaranteeing 36 hours total, and they anticipate the strike may end by that time. And they're offering $46/hour for a week of work.

I don't know, if I'm going to uproot my life, fly across country, cross a picket line of angry nurses, and only have one week of guaranteed work, I darn well better be paid more than $46/hour!

What say you?

Would you, could you, be a scab? For $46/hour?

[red2003xlt, LPN]

Having worked for staffing companies; if they're paying $46 then they're charging the hospital close to $200.

$46 ain't enough.

[JacknSweetpea]

No, I would not be a scab. It goes against everything I believe in. I wish we could have unions where I live.....unfortunately, saying the "union" word is enough to get someone fired where I live. I can understand the necessity for some out of work nurses to work as scabs in order to make ends meet, but I certainly hope I won't ever have to do that. Oh, and the word "scab" in these terms is not meant to be insulting. I work with a nurse who refers to herself as a "scab"; she travels wherever there is a strike. As for the nurses who claim they couldn't be disloyal to an employer or their patients......do you really honestly think they give a **** about you? When I'm at work I do what I'm paid to do but I don't wear my heart on a sleeve.

[Mindful, RN]

Here's a web site for that nurse to read :up: http://www.wisegeek.com/in-labor-terms-what-is-a-scab.htm

[Mindful, RN]

To Become A Union Organizer ....... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079638/

[ominous]

:idea:Well, "free" agent, you've got the golden handcuff syndrome, locked in by the money, like a mercenary 'soldier of fortune', and IMHO, ultimately, you sell the profession short taking that line of reasoning. (As the saying goes, "It's difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.")

Are you really able to provide the safe and effective care with an high acuity/high patient to nurse ratio with limited or no ancillary staffing? Nah, ya just dumb down the concepts of safe and effective care, take the money and run, instead of trying to improve conditions. Taking the money and leaving the problems for someone else to solve is not professional. Neither is ignoring them, or stepping over and going around the nurses who are trying to effect positive change.

It stands to reason that in a step down unit, for instance, if you have 3 patients, you're going to catch subtle signs and symptoms that could lead to deterioration of the patient's condition. If you're assigned 6 or 8 patients you're just not going to be able to do that; provide an optimum level of surveillance, ongoing assessment, evaluation, teaching, hygiene, and observing for efficacy or side effects of medication. Some nurses have a false sense of security about the code teams and rapid response teams, and reason that if anything bad happens, they've got back up. That's just wrong. Why push your patients to the cliff by remaining silent about deliberate "for profit" short staffing, and then, when you find they've fallen over the cliff, think someone else will come along, "just in time" to save them. That's unprofessional!

So you're saying its unprofessional to not be in a union?? I'm sorry but striking does not effect positive change. It puts patients at risk for someone's need to make more money. Forcing people to pay to work is not positive change. As far as the mercenary comment, the same can be said for unionizers. They try to organize hospitals like its a military operation! Showing up in breakrooms, the lunch room, outside the hospital with their pathetic little organizing cards. Showing up at peoples homes and also calling to harass them about how great the union will be for them. Talk about unprofessional!!

[luvche]

To those who look down on "scabs"....it's my understanding that you get paid a ridiculously low amount per day to strike. What about single parents who simply can't afford to picket? Those who will end up living in a shelter with their children if they can't pay their rent? you can be sure the union bosses make their full salary while strikes are going on.....but the strikers?

If anyone looked down on me for taking the opportunity to be a "scab": it must be nice to be sitting on your high horse with plenty of money to continue to feed your family. Some aren't that fortunate. To lose that time from work would mean to lose utilities, homes, vehicles, food and more.

Some people may say they'd do that for their principles. Again....shame on you if you have young children you would drag through the pain of losing a home or going to bed hungry.

I know when I was travel nursing in California, the entire support staff (excluding nurses) was organizing a planned strike. However, those who could not afford so would let managers know to expect them at work. From what i saw, it was civil and these people were not looked down upon. I knew many in the situation i described above. I couldn't imagine someone being horrible to them for continuing to work. I doubt those same people would give them money out of their own pockets to compesate. Or pay their rent for them.

[Mindful, RN]

Maybe we just need to let the Corporate Pigs in our Hospital Industry have their way......... :eek:

[gypsyd8]

Somebody has to take care of the patients. What do you expect to happen with a strike really? Do you want all the patients to go without care?

I worked the first 5 years of my career in a non-union facility and got a job at a unionized facility three years ago. I admit, I did it for the pay. The union protections seemed nice until I discovered that they do not really protect you.

We just finished a grueling 5 day strike. I went to work, as scheduled, because that is what I do. I work, when I say I am going to work. I do not support the Administration at this for-profit facility, but I support my patients. I found out a few things by crossing the picket line.

#1 What the union was striking over: They gave us rather vague reasons for this strike and I discovered that the strike had nothing to do with patient care whatsoever. It had nothing to do with employee care either. They wanted a BS clinical ladder and call-off pay. They were not addressing the serious systemic issues at the facility at all.

#2 What the strikers were actually doing: Taking a vacation. The strike was over Christmas, and structured in such a way that three days were in one pay period and two days were in the next. Guess what? No picketing on Christmas. There wasn't even a picket line to cross the day after Christmas. I am all for labor rights but if you are striking, then your butt better be walking a picket line, not sitting on your couch at home while the rest of us work ours off.

#3 The strike nurses were a mixed lot, pretty much like the nurses who work there normally. A few were excellent nurses who did an amazing job under horrific circumstances. Most were very decent people who were simply doing the best job they could while supporting themselves. They were no different from the rest of us.

[Mindful, RN]

........... pray tell, name that union you belong too.........

[gypsyd8]

Why does it matter ? As far as I know the main nursing union is CNA, who I believe recently hooked up with a larger national affiliated with the AFL/CIO. That is not the one I currently belong to. The funny thing is that when the ancillary staff who are in the same union were going to strike the expected us not to cross their picket line. When they came to a last minute agreement with mgmt, guess what? It included language that prohibited them from strking in support of us. Some unity.

[justashooter]

speaking as an individual who worked in past life in manufacturing management, i have to acknowledge that i have been paid to prevent unionization of employees. in manufacturing unionization of employees is a sure end to their employment. hundreds of thousands of manufacturers have closed operations in the USA due to union labour organizations and are now outsourcing to foreign vendors.

speaking as an individual who in past life worked at a foreign vendor educating foreign manufacturers in how to acheive USA quality standards, i can say that American manufacturing is done for. it will be replaced by cheap labour manufacturing in foreign countries.

as a result, America is becoming a "service economy" more and more each and every day. as a result, America's position in the world is falling at an alarming rate. soon enuf we will follow the UK into oblivion, overrun by extra-nationals and unable to support our own population.

what does this have to do with nursing unions? do the math. the more people you have in line with their hands in the till, the more likely you are to see outsourcing, in one way or another. you wanna keep union scale and union perks, get ready for hospitals to respond by petitioning USCIS for a revival of H1-C and a new influx of foreign nurses that will work for cheaper rates.

in the end you will be out of work. in the end patient standard of care will decrease. in the end we will all live, die, and pay taxes.

[nicurn001]

With only about 13% of the total workforce unionized , why lay the blame upon unionization causing outsourcing , whilst laying no blame upon the management of the other 87% of employers ?.

I think you will find all managements look to outsourcing as a way to cut costs , thereby increase profiability and raise their share price , this share price being directly related to their ( the corporate officers ) incomes .So whilst we listen to the mantra , that we should be doing all we can to increase profitability and reduce taxes , remember all that is being done to maintain highearners income , while they screw the incomes of everyone else , now there is the real meaning of class warfare ,a war that has already been fought and won without most realising it .