Recession = No raise for 3 years

Nurses General Nursing

Published

hello guys!

what do you guys think? today my union was renewing our contract and they said that we are not getting any raises for the next 3 years due to budget cuts. in lieu of that, nobody is getting laid off and we get to keep our excellent medical benefits.

i have been in my ltc facility for 10-11 months. i was a little scared that if they do lay of people, i would be included since i am one of the newest employees.

my facility is a 500+ beds with rehab, subacute, and ltc. lpns and rns have the same union.

i am just thinking that working there for 3 years without any raises just sucks. no incentive at all.

i guess i should be happy that i get to keep my job and not get laid off and that should be incentive enough.

i guess i am just venting and would like to find out if something similar like this happen in your facility due to this recession?

cheers,

angel

please don't buy into your union/hospitals' bullcrap. nurses are vastly underpaid as it is. hospitals are crying economy, and nurses are going to sit back and accept that. THAT'S NOT OK. The hospital/union I work for guarantees its' workers an annual salary increase of at LEAST 5%. Hospitals are rolling in the dough and they will look for any excuse not to pay when they don't have to, especially if we sit back and allow them not to.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept.

I guess we are fortunate - at our hospital we our non-union, but we get raises in Dec and June. And have for years. Our Dec. raise was 3%. Not sure what the June one will be. Dec is our 'performance appraisal' raises and June is 'Fair Market Adjustments'. And we can't hire enough nurses. They are offering signing bonuses and bonus shifts.

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I would be happy to have a job still.

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Specializes in Psych.

This is sad given so many people are without insurance and it will cause a big backlash as people will then present 10 x sicker when they do. It is also sad that these companies use this as an excuse not to pay people what they deserve (I am sure that they will still make huge profits). The saddest part of it all is that people believe "We should just be grateful we have jobs."

How many people don't have healthcare in the US now? How many next month? And the good people of the US are happy to exploit the situation. Sad

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
How many people don't have healthcare in the US now?
Nearly 50 million Americans don't have any type of healthcare coverage at the present time. And with 500,000 people losing their jobs every month, the current uninsured crisis is only going to worsen. Under most circumstances, unemployed people do not have insurance and cannot afford to purchase it on the private market.
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The unemployed can get medicaid when they need it.

I had no insurance for the past 3 years. My employer set up a plan that had employees paying 100% of the premium....for a family is over $1K/mo! I am healthy and my kids are healthy. Eventually, my kids did get medical treatments for things....$2K for a dislocated shoulder. $100 for an illness requiring antibiotics. $280 for the appt and pap on my 19yo. $80/mo for BCPs for the 19yo. It was CHEAPER to pay cash than have insurance. My only risk was a catastrophic illness. God bless us....that didn't happen.

Right now...I am one of the 500K-600K that the news will report lost jobs in Feb09. I will tell you it is EASY to be the employed one saying...."have the unions give us our raise and layoff folks so that I don't lose career income acheivement...and ultimate retirement...".....but when the union agrees with your position....HOW would you feel when you showed up to work the next day and it was YOU they cut? Do you KNOW what it is like to lose a $75K/yr...have a mortgage, bills, kids...and look at the job postings in your city and the ONLY jobs out there pay LESS than unemployment?!

Did you notice the stuff in the "stimulus bill"? Look folks, the ones who lost jobs are: bankers, financial analysts, computer programmers, car salesmen, car manufacturers, car part manufacturers for the most part. How will ANYTHING in this stimulus bill put THOSE people back to work? Do ANY of them have experience in infrastructure? Not hardly. Obama mentioned computerizing the medical records system. I should be thrilled as a programmer - right? Not. Do you have any concept of how many languages and databases there are out there? If I don't have THAT experience, I wont get one of those jobs. Although I have the language and database experience that BCBS uses here in town....they won't hire me. Why not? Because my programming experience didn't include HEALTH INS. Whatever!:icon_roll The guts don't care if you are an ins company or telecommunications, etc. I have also not been hired by hospitals needing programmers because none of my experience is in health care. So it isn't that simple. This stimulus will not put the folks back to work who lost their jobs. Not to mention the dance they all do....."This will SAVE OR create 3 million jobs." So if the layoffs stop and 1 person was hired that had been laid off - they can claim success since 2,999,999 of the currently employed are still employed! :bugeyes::icon_roll:uhoh3:

:spbox: Sorry....climbing off my box!

Anyway, God has blessed me recently anyway. Married a wonderful man (military). Health insurance is no longer an issue. I am eager to start NS in May....and graduate next summer...and me and my grown children will add student loans to the home budget and make our futures as a team!

I feared the possibility of not finding a job once I graduated. My brother who is a nurse in Manhattan assured me that he has a friend at Mayo who said he could get me a job there.

Heres hoping for a better future for ALL of us!

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Specializes in psych. rehab nursing, float pool.

Medicaid is not exactly easy for people to obtain. First off they have to own about nil. A vehicle worth no more than I think it is $2,000.00. I am not sure what they do about someone who happens to own a home and actually might have some equity in it. Medicaid is about proverty. It will take anyone laid off awhile to actually be able to be eligible for it.

Anyone jump in and correct my figures they are estimates on my part. They also go back on your earnings for a set period of time.

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I lived in apt with my a man who became my first hubby. I owned a brand new RX-7. He owned a late model Ford Escort. He had just completed his first day on a new job. He had no insurance. We were attacked (road rage incident). He was repeatedly stabbed. His $10000 bill was covered by medicaid. He was considered "essentially unemployed" at the time of the attack.

My now ex-h (last one not first)...we were living with my parents trying to get a fresh start. We owned 2 cars...one was a pontiac station wagon and I forget the other. Anyway, I was receiving unemployment compensation. He was not and was not employed at that time. He had severe abdominal pain. He went to ER and was admitted for pancreatitis. His entire stay was covered by medicaid.

There are many things you CAN'T qualify for when on unemployment. The last time I had a contract end, I received unemployment. Single mom. 3 of 5 kids at home. I was in a rental house. However, being the wonderful mom that I am, I helped finance my daughter's Dodge Neon. It was now paid for (her money). She had it at Ft. Campbell, KY, but it was still registered to me. I paid cash for another daughters car. (I needed her to drive the others around.) Obviously registered to me. I had a Dodge Grand Caravan and was upside down on that. I was declined for food stamps because I owned too much property. :icon_roll Whatever. Lived of credit cards.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

Like most hospitals, mine has frozen positions, decreased a few benefits, and laid off some people. I am thinking that I will be in the next wave of cuts. I would gladly take a wage freeze (or even a cut) to avoid facing unemployment in the next few months.

It's a different world now -- and we are not likely to go back to old ways for quite some time -- perhaps not during our lifetimes.

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Specializes in Wound Care, LTC, Sub-Acute, Vents.
the unemployed can get medicaid when they need it.

i had no insurance for the past 3 years. my employer set up a plan that had employees paying 100% of the premium....for a family is over $1k/mo! i am healthy and my kids are healthy. eventually, my kids did get medical treatments for things....$2k for a dislocated shoulder. $100 for an illness requiring antibiotics. $280 for the appt and pap on my 19yo. $80/mo for bcps for the 19yo. it was cheaper to pay cash than have insurance. my only risk was a catastrophic illness. god bless us....that didn't happen.

right now...i am one of the 500k-600k that the news will report lost jobs in feb09. i will tell you it is easy to be the employed one saying...."have the unions give us our raise and layoff folks so that i don't lose career income acheivement...and ultimate retirement...".....but when the union agrees with your position....how would you feel when you showed up to work the next day and it was you they cut? do you know what it is like to lose a $75k/yr...have a mortgage, bills, kids...and look at the job postings in your city and the only jobs out there pay less than unemployment?!

did you notice the stuff in the "stimulus bill"? look folks, the ones who lost jobs are: bankers, financial analysts, computer programmers, car salesmen, car manufacturers, car part manufacturers for the most part. how will anything in this stimulus bill put those people back to work? do any of them have experience in infrastructure? not hardly. obama mentioned computerizing the medical records system. i should be thrilled as a programmer - right? not. do you have any concept of how many languages and databases there are out there? if i don't have that experience, i wont get one of those jobs. although i have the language and database experience that bcbs uses here in town....they won't hire me. why not? because my programming experience didn't include health ins. whatever!:icon_roll the guts don't care if you are an ins company or telecommunications, etc. i have also not been hired by hospitals needing programmers because none of my experience is in health care. so it isn't that simple. this stimulus will not put the folks back to work who lost their jobs. not to mention the dance they all do....."this will save or create 3 million jobs." so if the layoffs stop and 1 person was hired that had been laid off - they can claim success since 2,999,999 of the currently employed are still employed! :bugeyes::icon_roll:uhoh3:

:spbox: sorry....climbing off my box!

anyway, god has blessed me recently anyway. married a wonderful man (military). health insurance is no longer an issue. i am eager to start ns in may....and graduate next summer...and me and my grown children will add student loans to the home budget and make our futures as a team!

i feared the possibility of not finding a job once i graduated. my brother who is a nurse in manhattan assured me that he has a friend at mayo who said he could get me a job there.

heres hoping for a better future for all of us!

i'm so sorry for the loss of job. i hope something better comes up.

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Specializes in Wound Care, LTC, Sub-Acute, Vents.
i am thinking that i will be in the next wave of cuts. i would gladly take a wage freeze (or even a cut) to avoid facing unemployment in the next few months.

i hope you get to keep your job. jeesh, this "recession" is horrible. i hope we never go to depression.

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