Would you ever be a scab?

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  1. This is a discussion on Would you ever be a scab? in Collective Bargaining / Nursing Union, part of General Nursing ... Due to a short stint in travel nursing, I am now on the email list of several travel nursing...

    by Oct 19, '10
    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?
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    by klone Oct 19, '10 4:20 pm
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    laborer likes this.
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  3. 65 Comments so far...

  4. Oct 19, '10 by
    Why do you use the pejorative term? What is wrong with calling them something that does not connotate a negative opinion of the worker? Lots of out of work nurses do this sort of work because they can't get a regular job. I doubt they appreciate being called names because they need to work to support themselves and their families. Just a thought.
    music, StillSeeking, KeyMaster, and 4 others like this.
  5. Oct 19, '10 by
    Is it a pejorative? It was just always the term I've heard used, as someone who fills in for a striking worker. No insult intended or meant.

    Would you prefer "eschar"? <--- that was a joke.

    Seriously, though, I did not mean insult. I honestly didn't know 'scab' was considered an insulting term.
    Last edit by klone on Oct 19, '10
    sissykim likes this.
  6. Oct 19, '10 by
    Very unlikely. They're probably lobbying for the very same work related issues that we've all encountered at one time or another, so I would not disrespect them by crossing the picket line.

    Besides, at $46/hr, it almost sounds like a bribe.

    Solidarity over money!
    mdfog10, RN4MERCY, and OCNRN63 like this.
  7. Oct 19, '10 by
    Quote from OttawaRPN
    Besides, at $46/hr, it almost sounds like a bribe.
    See, I thought the opposite. For a travel nursing position, it seemed an awfully low wage to cross a picket line.
    CCL RN, KeyMaster, OC_An Khe, and 3 others like this.
  8. Oct 19, '10 by
    Quote from caliotter3
    Why do you use the pejorative term? What is wrong with calling them something that does not connotate a negative opinion of the worker? Lots of out of work nurses do this sort of work because they can't get a regular job. I doubt they appreciate being called names because they need to work to support themselves and their families. Just a thought.
    The way union folks feel a out them, that's pretty
    much as mild a term as we could use. The willingness to stand with the bosses against your fellow workers is part of the reason for the enormous shift in income and wealth this country has experienced in the last 30 or so years. Only when workers learn to stand together will they stop pushing us down.
    Chin up, CMCRN, laborer, and 14 others like this.
  9. Oct 19, '10 by
    You mean would I be willing to stab my sisters and brothers in nursing in the back for my own financial gain? Would I be willing to send the message to a dysfunctional hospital's administration that the nursing profession is unsupportive of its own and fragmented?

    Nah. Not so much.
    Chin up, laborer, Jessy_RN, and 10 others like this.
  10. Oct 19, '10 by
    I could never cross a picket (sp?) line. Dad was union. 'course I'm probably the odd man out here in Texas....
    Chin up, CCL RN, mdfog10, and 5 others like this.
  11. Oct 19, '10 by
    No, I don't cross picket lines.
    Chin up, mdfog10, JacknSweetpea, and 3 others like this.
  12. Oct 19, '10 by
    No. Never. I don't even cross picket lines that have nothing to do with nursing.
    mdfog10, JacknSweetpea, RN4MERCY, and 3 others like this.