[pickledpepperRN]

SEIU: We won't oppose hospital downsizing

Union says state's financially ailing health-care industry needs to be restructured.

Thursday, December 07, 2006
By James T. Mulder
Staff writer

The state's biggest health-care union will not oppose a state commission's recommendations to downsize New York's health-care industry, even though the proposals will cost many of its members their jobs. ...

Syracuse.com

[Angie O'Plasty, RN]

Waaaaaay to go, Union!


Prime example of a bad union being worse than no union.

[Gromit]

Did the union cause this? Or were the problems existant before the union did anything? I don't know much about their story, but what little I DO know sounds more administrative than anything else.

[ingelein]

Originally Posted by Angie O'Plasty, RN

Waaaaaay to go, Union!


Prime example of a bad union being worse than no union.

The healthcare industry all over the US is "ailing", thanks to the corporate greed ,of insurance companies, drug companies and healthcare companies.It is no wonder not more are closing.How could a union condone keeping certain hospitals open if closing them could strengthen the remaining ones? Unions did not create the problem. The healthcare workers who will lose their jobs have become the victim of a sick industry, unions are in place to represent the worker, not to run the business for incompetant CEOs.

[Gromit]

lets not forget to heap a helping of blame on the lawyers -you cant even watch late-night TV without seeing a few ads trying to get you to sue doctors, hospitals, nursing homes or even drug companies. These kinds of lawyers are nothing but bottom-feeders.

[pickledpepperRN]

I can't understand the union siding with the hospital association to decrease care. It is too sad. And so very wrong.

Legislators expect health care facilities will be downsized

ALBANY -- Wednesday's announcement by the state's largest health care workers union and a major hospital association that the groups won't fight a state plan to revamp New York's health care facilities should make it easier for the plan to be implemented, two Elmira-area state lawmakers said.

But the legislators -- state Assemblyman Tom O'Mara, R-Horseheads, and state Sen. George H. Winner Jr., R-Elmira -- said they haven't made up their minds about whether they will support the plan, which also calls for some form of affiliation between Elmira's two hospitals.

With the Greater New York Hospital Association and 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East deciding to sit out the fight, the local lawmakers acknowledged Wednesday that the chances of preventing the health-care downsizing are slim....

Star-Gazette.COM - Local News

[Sheri257]

This is a classic example of a bad union. These people are nuts. SEIU also supports illegal immigration ... go figure.

I don't know what they are thinking but ... this is a great way for them to ensure their own demise.

[Freedom42]

Thanks for posting the link. It's interesting to note that the head of the union local says that if done right, downsizing could lead to a healthier system.

That may be tough for some to swallow, but SEIU's president, Andy Stern, is all about retooling systems that no longer work instead of perpetuating problems. I wonder if he'll actually preserve more American jobs in the long run. This development flies in the face of the old union image.

[Angie O'Plasty, RN]

Originally Posted by Freedom42

Thanks for posting the link. It's interesting to note that the head of the union local says that if done right, downsizing could lead to a healthier system.

That may be tough for some to swallow, but SEIU's president, Andy Stern, is all about retooling systems that no longer work instead of perpetuating problems. I wonder if he'll actually preserve more American jobs in the long run. This development flies in the face of the old union image.

"Retooling systems that no longer work?"

Hospitals? Emergency rooms? With an aging population that will actually have more medical needs than ever?

Sorry, I'm not buying that hoopla.

[Freedom42]

If you're suggesting that hospitals that are chronically understaffed by nurses are a working system, I respectfully disagree.

But here's the real issue: What credible argument could the union in Syracuse make to oppose downsizing? What argument could the union make that would not appear to be self-serving and only based on job preservation?

Our health-care system is in trouble. Changes have to be made, and they are going to require some sacrifices. I'm reminded of an old saying: Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.