Another reason unions suck!

[Ruger8mm]

Trying to get a vacation as a new RN under a union regime is challenging at best. It's all seniority based. So the senior RNs can basically come and go as they choose. But that means the rest of us cannot be off (even though we don't cover each other or know each other's job). Also the silly union made a rule that managers cannot approve vacations to far out. So if someone knows they want a certain week 2 years from now, they cannot secure it and start booking flights or whatever. It's irritating at best.

[ProgressiveActivist, BSN, RN]

Many nurses are the head of household and scraping by therefore they can not invest a significant portion of their income.

The American worker should not have to tie their financial security to the stock market anyway.

The reason there are so many older nurses either living in poverty or still working after decades of service, is that they can not afford to retire and pay the mortgage, taxes or help their dependents.

If anyone deserves a defined benefit retirement plan it's the teachers, nurses, military veterans, cops and firefighters who serve their communities and the country. Just like our elected State and Federal officials receive. This is not a me me me mentality. It's an us mentality.

The right has done a marvelous job of convincing people that unions are evil and to vote against their own best interest.

They can pry that union contract with the defined benefit retirement plan and health benefit out of my cold dead hands.

I like funding my own retirement (403b) and my employer also provides some contributions as well (we are union). I have a say in where my funds go, and I can choose how agressive I want to invest my funds. If anyone things they can survive on just a pension for the future they are mistaken. You need multiple sources. Social security might not even be around for when I retire. Pensions are a thing of the past, they simply cannot sustain themselves. Look at the bankruptcy of GM, it was one of the causes. I'm not anti union but again I do have some problems that cause disdain. I look at it like a tradeoff. I do not agree in seniority vacations as I feel the person doing the same job as me, making the same money as me, and in most cases doing less work than me deserves exactly the same opportunity I have to take a vacation. We rotate holidays, why not rotate taking summer vacations? For what its worth, I usually dont have a hard time getting mine anyway as I dont really take summer vacations but I can see how others would find this to thier disadvantage.

[Ruger8mm]

I was going to say you must be a socialist liberal. But I see you are so misguided and proud of being on the left, that you included it in your name.

You do realize NOTHING is free and everything has a price that must be paid by someone, don't you? Your pension didn't fall out of a tree or someone's butt.

[ProgressiveActivist, BSN, RN]

In my view the income inequality and its effect on the shrinking middle class has placed us at a critical juncture as a profession and a nation.

Social reforms are not the path to communism. We could use a little democratic socialism so that we leave things better than we found them. We defeated the Nazis, split the atom and put a man on the moon. It can all be done with redistribution of wealth.

I was going to say you must be a socialist liberal. But I see you are so misguided and proud of being on the left, that you included it in your name.

you do realize NOTHING is free and everything has a price that must be paid by someone. Your pension didn't fall out of a tree or someone's butt.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

My hospital isn't union but we get all those perks so....

Maybe you don't understand this, but you get those perks because unions stood up and demanded them.

[Ruger8mm]

In my view the income inequality and its effect on the shrinking middle class has placed us at a critical juncureas a profession and a nation. Social reforms are not the path to communism. We could use a little democratic socialism so that we leave things better than we found them. We defeated the Nazis, split the atom and put a man on the moon. It can all be done with redistribution of wealth.

Hold on, I've got to go puke. Redistribution of wealth? PLEASE! Go get it yourself instead of looking for a handout.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Apparently you missed the whole conversation about how unions protect the lazy and incompetent employee. Unions have cut throat tactics when it comes to engaging with management. Unions limit the ability of each individual worker from negotiating for themselves. By imposing all the little nit picky rules unions inhibit autonomy. By falsely inflating peoples wages unions increase the price of goods and services for all of us.

Unions make it more difficult to fire the lazy or incompetent employee -- but not impossible. They also make it more difficult to fire the hard working, competent employee whose job is in danger because she made one high profile but non-life-ending mistake. Or the employee who will be a long term, loyal employee and a hard worker but who cannot seem to make friends in the department. Or the employee who has gotten on the wrong side of the new boss after years of dedicated service.

But please, feel free to go to work for a nonunion hospital where you can have all the negotiating autonomy and deflated wages you want. I'm sure lots of folks would jump at the chance to work in a union hospital.

[ProgressiveActivist, BSN, RN]

If the idea of your nursing peers being able to retire with dignity and respect, via an earned DB pension, makes you want to puke then that's pretty cold.

[2011RN]

Hold on, I've got to go puke. Redistribution of wealth? PLEASE! Go get it yourself instead of looking for a handout.

Expecting reasonable pay or pay increases is not looking for a hand out. Expecting your tax dollars to go towards things that benefit you and your community instead of corporate giants is not looking for a hand out. Fact is you can work your bum off and not get anywhere these days! The cost of healthcare is outrageous and many Americans should they become sick will forever be digging out of the debt they incur.

[Ruger8mm]

[twozer0, NP]

Many nurses are the head of household and scraping by therefore they can not invest a significant portion of their income.

The American worker should not have to tie their financial security to the stock market anyway.

The reason there are so many older nurses either living in poverty or still working after decades of service, is that they can not afford to retire and pay the mortgage, taxes or help their dependents.

If anyone deserves a defined benefit retirement plan it's the teachers, nurses, military veterans, cops and firefighters who serve their communities and the country. Just like our elected State and Federal officials receive. This is not a me me me mentality. It's an us mentality.

The right has done a marvelous job of convincing people that unions are evil and to vote against their own best interest.

They can pry that union contract with the defined benefit retirement plan and health benefit out of my cold dead hands.

I dont know any nurses who are scrapping by like you suggested and if they were, I would assume it was a product of thier own decision making. I think you should read up on how pensions/defined contribution plans earn money (they use the stock market). So the funds are tied up there anyway whether I do it or the fund manager does. Socialism doesn't promote incentive to do anything better than the person next to you and why should you? There is a reason we are in a capitalist society and why the rest of the world wants to come here, its called opportunity. Nobody is saying you're going to get rich, but you are at least afforded the chance to better yourself through hard work and dedication, something a socialist would never understand. Its ME ME for a reason, because person A has shown they work harder, more effecient, and are more dedicated than person B. There is an old saying: You should treat everyone fairly but not everyone equally.

I work hard to stay in the middle class and by no means do I need a boat or a jet. I pay the bills, feed my kids, put a roof over our heads and if I'm lucky we can SAVE to go to disney. This isnt uncommon for most of your middle class people and most of us do service work.

[Ruger8mm]

Well said. Exactly. Nurses do better than just fine.

[Ruger8mm]

This cartoon should explain socialism so even those that support it will understand how bad of an idea it is.