[teeituptom]

Originally Posted by spacenurse

RNs at 7 Sutter Health hospitals OK union to strike

Union-represented registered nurses at seven Sutter Health affiliate hospitals in the Bay Area have authorized their contract negotiating teams to call strikes if agreements are not reached….

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...d=rss.business

Ive always enjoyed the Bay Area to visit.

[nancykday]

(a 11% raise and no more floating are the major reasons). I'm not a nurse so I don't understand their reasoning to strike to "protect their patients". [/quote]

An 11% raise is over the life of the contract, so if it is, say a 2 year contract, that would = a 5 1/2 % raise each year. This is to recruit and retain the nursing staff. The union has done their homework priorto the contract negotiations and this is what they feel is a fair increase for their respective area. Which is not that much when you consider the bonus the CEO of the hospital gets each year for maximizing profits.
Floating of nurses is a safe staffing issue, if the hospital would employee sufficient amt of staff to meet the staffing needs based on acuity, floating would not be necessary. Instead they wish to control costs by not employing the proper amt of staff, enforcing MOT to fill staffing gaps, and floating untrained staff off one unit to fill the needs of another. It is more cost effictive to hire agency or travelling nurses b/c they do not have to pay them benefits and by controlling payrool costs they increase the hospitals profit margin

[bigredrn57]

Originally Posted by teeituptom

A Scab is what protects and helps heal a wound.

Crossing those picket lines is essential

I love crossing picket lines

I also love strike pay very much, I can make an excellent living this way.

Do you like being a "tool" of management? Do you care about your patients or fellow nurses? Or are you just in it for the money?