union pro or con

Nurses Union

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does your hospital have a union for the nurses? if so has it helped or not?

why do nurses constantly eat each other rather than say have a more powerful labor voice when dealing with all these health care systems or merged hospitals which really means big corporations concerned with one thing there bottom line not your wages.

Don't you think it is sad that in most places in the USA a RN makes less than a dental hygenist....

heck in upstate NY my Hygenist makes over 30 bucks a hour and she started at 29 dollars a hour far more than what a starting RN will make here.

Now if a prounion type talks about the good history of unions that is ok. Talk about the dirt of unions, that is not ok. Is that what you are saying.

If I may- No one here is saying anything like that.

Many brothers and sisters risked life and limb struggling for democracy against corrupt union bosses rather than give up the right to have union representation. Their sacrafices helped toughen up laws and stengthened the labor movement.

We honor their memory no matter who reminds us about their legacy.

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Specializes in ER,ICU,L+D,OR.
educated union members know that the antidote for corruption in the labor movement is union democracy. lessons of our forefathers have taught us well. dedicated union activists know that "watchdog" is as an important part of their function as nurses do- (ask tdu-teamsters for a democratic union and ny nurses united -a new group or better yet check out: http://uniondemocracy.org/ )

democracy is never won without a struggle, whether in a union or in a nation, (for some of the reasons already citied- greed, power lust) but is well worth the fight.

i'm thinking of the many examples in "utopian" literature- should we give up our freedoms because man is imperfect and corrupt? what kind of society would we be left with?

union vs democracy vs utopia a concept that would have done orwell himself proud. i love it. im converted.

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Specializes in Critical-care RN.

Lets get real, " Employee Free Choice Act " will pass hands down this year....... Praise the Lord and pass the bullets :yeah::yeah::yeah: http://www.aflcio.org/joinaunion/voiceatwork/efca/

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Lets get real, " Employee Free Choice Act " will pass hands down this year....... Praise the Lord and pass the bullets :yeah::yeah::yeah: http://www.aflcio.org/joinaunion/voiceatwork/efca/

In my book EFCA will be a very good thing for the workers of America, including nurses - BUT, by making organizing easier it will trigger a land rush of non-nurse unions fighting to sign up as many nurses as possible as fast as possible. While the process of organizing today is very difficult and the boss has all the upper hand, the one good thing about that is that it forces unions to do a really thorough job of educating and communicating with those they are seeking to organize. RNs are some of the highest paid hourly workers in the US, simply because we are so educated and so much in demand, so lots of unions will be anxious to sign us up. It's my firm belief that RNs are best served by a union that understands our professional issues - not by a union that largely represents steelworkers, or truck drivers or building maintenance people or even teachers. They may be fine unions (or not) but their issues and concerns are not the same as ours. The state nurses associations that are also effective unions, like NYSNA, PASNAP in Pennsylvania, MNA in Massachusetts and CNA/NNOC are the models to look to.

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Unions will never solve the problem, only add to the problem. Unions exhibit greed like anyone else. The single most important item on any strike is "PAY" everything else is just smoke.

Pay always enters into every discussion about working conditions. I know that MNA has fought for safe staffing language, No mandatory OT laws and pensions. The last strike was primarily driven by nurse concerns about patient safety in MPLS/St Paul hospitals.

Strong unions lead to better run organizations.

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But lets not forget the extremely high amount of corruption and criminal activity that has plagued the history of union activity in this country. And where is Jimmy Hoffa buried anyway. Does all this corruption become sanctified just because we think it is for our benefit.

Nursing does very well at keeping all of us comfortable. The number of nurses Ive known who have raised their 4 or 5 or 6 and even one I know who f

has raised his 7 children and put them through college. I think that sounds like nursing is successful to me. Nurse who get into trouble are really a small per centage. Everyone else like anything else gets by nicely if they apply themselves. You dont need a union with a history of corruption for that.

Sources for your corruption allegations???? (And not a Chamber of Commerce astroturf press release or a Readers Digest article.)

I know of more than one person who was ran out of an organization by an unethical manger. Employees with long histories of good service to their organization who were not troublemakers and the union saved them.

Corruption in any organization is wrong. (I don't tolerate it in my own local.)

Compare human outcomes for states with a strong union history to those of "Right to Work for less" states. On every outcome the Unions have been the advocates for good schools and access to good health care.

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I currently work for a non-union hospital. I prefer it this way.

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Specializes in Flight Nurse, Pedi CICU, IR, Adult CTICU.
Sources for your corruption allegations???? (And not a Chamber of Commerce astroturf press release or a Readers Digest article.)

I know of more than one person who was ran out of an organization by an unethical manger. Employees with long histories of good service to their organization who were not troublemakers and the union saved them.

Corruption in any organization is wrong. (I don't tolerate it in my own local.)

Compare human outcomes for states with a strong union history to those of "Right to Work for less" states. On every outcome the Unions have been the advocates for good schools and access to good health care.

There is insufficient room on this forum to share the extensive, chronic, and routine behavior of corruption in labor unions.

Would a reference by the CNA about the corruption of the SEIU be sufficient? http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/federal-investigation-of-use-of,353391.shtml

So please tell us just what you've done to address the corruption in your "own local."

We know it's there, I'd just like to hear what you've done, especially since you claimed to be intolerant of it.

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Specializes in Flight Nurse, Pedi CICU, IR, Adult CTICU.
So, the question is, "union pro or con." And your response just doesn't make any sense to me. Oh, I get the fact that you're anti-union alright. But you're trying to taint the whole labor movement because of a corrupt individual? Do you disparage religion because of a greedy pastor or two? Do you disparage government because of a crooked politician?

I don't recall reading a post anywhere in this forum where the author spoke about corruption being of benefit to anyone.

Might have a point except the whole labor movement is tainted...it's not just a "greedy union steward or two."

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Specializes in Flight Nurse, Pedi CICU, IR, Adult CTICU.

It seems to me that pro-union people are often pro-universal health care.

Doesn't make sense.

Why would they think that the gov't is the best agency to provide health care, but a non-gov't union is required to take care of employees. Why can't the gov't do better at both?

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Specializes in ICU/CCU/TRAUMA/ECMO/BURN/PACU/.
It seems to me that pro-union people are often pro-universal health care.

Doesn't make sense.

It makes perfect sense. If you're not healthy, you can't work.

According to Professor Michael Yates,

"Unions are still one of the best hopes for working people, whether it involves nitty gritty issues like protecting workers against unjust firings or enforcing safer workplaces, or larger concerns like securing more control over the work process or democratizing the entire economy. With the world economy in recession some employers see this as the moment to crush unions once and for all. Now is the moment for unions to build a broad social movement that can advance labor's vision of a better society, centered on the needs of all working people.

I happen to agree with him. If you don't, go out and enjoy your eight hour day, your lunch break, your weekend and holiday pay, and safer patient care in California, due to legislated standards for safe RN-to-patient staffing ratios. And the fact that there are laws against child labor, unsafe work places, mandatory overtime, and discrimination against women and people of color in the workplace. Courtesy of labor union members' social and political advocacy. You're welcome.

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Specializes in Flight Nurse, Pedi CICU, IR, Adult CTICU.
It makes perfect sense. If you're not healthy, you can't work.

According to Professor Michael Yates,

I happen to agree with him. If you don't, go out and enjoy your eight hour day, your lunch break, your weekend and holiday pay, and safer patient care in California, due to legislated standards for safe RN-to-patient staffing ratios. And the fact that there are laws against child labor, unsafe work places, mandatory overtime, and discrimination against women and people of color in the workplace. Courtesy of labor union members' social and political advocacy. You're welcome.

And California is broke and ranks 32 out of 42 states on healthcare (in an article published on WebMD).

No thanks.

BTW, laws against gender/racial discrimination, child labor, and unsafe work places are not some elements unique to Cali.

Oddly, I work in a non-union facility (not in Cali, I left years ago) where I always get a lunch break, make weekend and holiday pay, and never exceed 1:2 ratios in the ICU where I work. We are the only tertiary facility of it's kind to make the Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For."

Can you explain why the only Cali Hospital to make that list is a non-union hospital? I thought unions were supposed to make things better for the employees?

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