Unions. What do they do for us?

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Mar 5, 2009

Oh where to start.

Unions negotiate collectively with the employer to determine wages, benefits and working conditions. Since most people think about money first, let's go there... You say you're paid more in Washington than you were in Texas. How much difference is there in the cost of living? Are you keeping more of your income than you were before because you have money left over at the end of the month rather than month left at the end of the money? Are there increments built into your wage structure that allow for automatic raises after a certain amount of time on the job? Are there scheduled increased spread out over the life of the agreement? Do you have shift differentials in your new job? Are they decent? Do you have paid time off for statutory holidays, vacations and illness? Do you have health, dental, life and disability insurance? What about a pension plan? All of these things are negotiated for on your behalf by the union.

Working conditions affect job satisfaction almost as much as the money does. Unions negotiate things like hours of work - scheduling regulations that include how many hours off you must have between shifts, how many days off in a row you're entitled to, how many weekends you have to work, what constitutes overtime and how you're paid for it, the maximum number of shifts in a row you can be required to work, meal breaks and rest periods and a number of other less visible things. They negotiate things related to workplace safety and what happens when a nurse is injured on the job, respect in the workplace and protection against abuse, how disciplinary matters are handled (and they provide representation and support to the nurse in these matters), and many others.

Union actions are largely democratic; the union's bylaws will define what sorts of things the union can do on members' behalf without seeking membership input and the list is actually quite small. Everything else results from collective discussion and agreement through meetings, information pickets, news bulletins and voting. To get an accurate picture of what your union does for you, get a copy of the collective agreement they've negotiated for the nurses at your facility. Read through it and then try to imagine what it would be like to personally hammer out an agreement of a similar scope and breadth all by yourself. Contact your local and speak with the executive members about what kinds of things have happened in the past that they've resolved. Go to a meeting. Get involved. Then you'll see where your $70 a month goes.

diane227, LPN, RN · Mar 6, 2009

So far they have not helped me. The cost of living here in Seattle is much greater than in Houston. I get paid more but I have more outgoing each month. Housing prices are huge here. Every time that I have received a raise, the union dues have gone up. Every single time. In the past three years I have not brought home any more money. When you do call them for a problem as a friend of mine did when she was terminated it tookTHREE WEEKS for someone to get back to her. I went to her grievance hearing with her and the union rep and the union rep was a total idiot. She had no idea what kind of questions to ask. Perhaps it is simply our union and others do not function this way, but I am VERY disappointed in the way our union is run.

Chico David, BSN, RN · Mar 6, 2009

So far they have not helped me. The cost of living here in Seattle is much greater than in Houston. I get paid more but I have more outgoing each month. Housing prices are huge here. Every time that I have received a raise, the union dues have gone up. Every single time. In the past three years I have not brought home any more money. When you do call them for a problem as a friend of mine did when she was terminated it took THREE WEEKS for someone to get back to her. I went to her grievance hearing with her and the union rep and the union rep was a total idiot. She had no idea what kind of questions to ask. Perhaps it is simply our union and others do not function this way, but I am VERY disappointed in the way our union is run.

I don't want to get into inter-union sniping on this post, but there is a huge difference among unions - and maybe more in nursing than in most industries. Some are highly democratic, some are autocratic and don't encourage member involvement. Some are agressive at fighting for their members and some are pretty wimpy. Some are highly effective and well-orgnized, others - not so much. For my money, the best unions for nurses are the better state nurses associations - they tend to have the best grasp of nursing issues and be relatively democratic. At my hospital, unionization has made an immense difference - in everything from pay to benefits, to rights on the job. But I know it ain't so everywhere. Because many state associations don't do collective bargaining or don't do it well at all or don't do much new organizing, the field has been left open for a lot of non-nurse-run unions to come into representing nurses. In my opinion, they generally don't do it as well, though there may be exceptions.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Mar 6, 2009

Your dues must be based on a percentage of your gross income then. But I find it hard to believe that the amount of your pay increase would match exactly the increase in your dues. Washington State Nurses' Association is also a member of the American Nurses' Association and they pay dues to that organization on your behalf so that you're represented nationally. A portion of your monthly dues is directed to the ANA.

I notice that you didn't answer any of the questions I posed about the things the union may have won for nurses in your state. I had a look at the current collective agreement between the University of Washington Medical Centre and the WSNA and find it to be quite a good agreement. It includes ALL of the things I asked about and some rather nice ones that aren't included in our "premium" contract in Alberta. (I don't know where you work, but this contract is likely fairly representative of the efforts of WSNA on behalf of most facilities under their umbrella and reflective of most contracts negotiated by other unions in the state because they're all competing for the same pool of people.) These are all things that people take for granted until they don't have them. Since Washington isn't a right-to-work state and the proposition of at-will employment doesn't enter into it, but Texas is, I'd say you've got a pretty good deal where you are right now. But you're looking for something that you haven't even defined that you feel your union is failing to provide. You're not looking at all the things it already has.

As the word "union" implies, an individual's concerns are viewed through the lens of the collective. When the union negotiates with the employer they are acting in the interests of all their members. If a member has an issue that isn't being dealt with and the member does nothing to bring attention to and support for their concerns, that cannot be the union's fault.

Local union representatives are typically volunteers who have been elected by the local membership. They must be educated in the interpretation of collective agreements, labour relations and negotiation; they don't generally arrive at their elected position knowing it all. And let's not forget that there are times when the union will not be able to prevent someone from being terminated for cause. (Really, would you want someone who was clearly a danger to patients to be helped to stay on the job?) It's a good idea to know a bit about your local so that when problems arise you know where to go and when to go further. In your friend's case, I would have recommended that she contact the head office when she failed to hear back from the local in a reasonable amount of time, let's say two business days.

There must be a reason why you moved to Washington from Texas that has a bearing on your situation. As I tell people who want to move to Alberta, where I live, because our wages are the highest in the country, they have to look at more than just how much money they'll make but also at the cost of living here... there's a reason why we're paid so much. Nurses are NOT getting rich in Alberta, but you'd sure think we were. And we know that the next round of negotiations, due to begin this spring, will be hard fought and we're going to lose a few things that we'll just have to suck up if we want to keep working. (Nurses in Alberta do not have the right to strike, so our negotiations are always difficult and protracted. It boils down to who will blink first.)

At the end of the day, a union is only as strong as its weakest link.

HM2VikingRN, RN · Mar 6, 2009

pensions, due process, health benefits, vacation, sick leave, etc.

I would much rather live in MN or WA that have better schools and other indicators of community health. The unions in those states have worked to assure that state and local governments work to provide services. (Compare health statistics between WA and TX..)

If you have concerns about the function of your local get involved and attend meetings as that is the way to help things run better.

diane227, LPN, RN · Mar 6, 2009

If you don't believe that my union dues have gone up and has taken all of my raise, I will send you my check stubs. I got a miniscule raise of 1% but the union dues went up about 3%. I don't work at Washington Medical Center. Also, the person I referenced was a nurse who was terminated for her "attitude". My point was that when we went to meet with HR I asked them if they ever give a patient a mandatory referral to EAP. They do not.

When I was in Texas I was the Director of Emergency and Pediatric Services and Ben Taub Hospital, the 5th largest emergency department in the country. As I had 300 employees I had to make sure that any disciplinary action was right on and that I had covered all my bases. It was imperative that I made a plan of corrective action and that if the issue had to do with an "attitude" problem, that the employee be referred to EAP. Most often they would find that they employee had stress issues or depression that was affecting their work. We tried to save our employees if there was any way that we could.

You have implied that I would not want a nurse terminated if he/she could not practice safely. I have terminated a lot of unsafe nurses in my time. The nurse practice act in the state of Texas is much more stringent that the nurse practice act here in Washington. My goal for going with my friend to her HR meeting was to see exactly what action they had taken and if anyone had ever tried to work out a plan with her for corrective action. They had not. No one was speaking up for her. There was absolutely no action taken what so ever to assist her with her "attitude" problem and the union rep certainly did not help her. I happen to know that she is depressed and greatly needs a psychiatric evaluation. She could have received this via EAP but they made no effort what so ever to assist her. Managers have to understand that when an employee has an "attitude" problem, they very often have an underlying issue that can very often be taken care of. Better employee= better working environment. Plus you have saved the employee so that you do not have to go to the expense of finding someone else and putting them through orientation, which can be very expensive.

The union has done nothing that I can see. Perhaps our union reps are just stupid.

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Mar 6, 2009

Diane - Come BACK - We need you!!! I'm a former 'Tauber' too.

I was just lurking - following this thread with some interest, especially since one poster decided to change the focus to "which state is best" and started dumping on TEXAS.

Note to dumper: Texas is far more diverse than the NW states. We have the longest border in the US - with a continuous influx of illegal immigrants from Mexico & So America to contend with. Our extremely low ratio healthcare professionals to population puts us at a tremendous disadvantage. Of our 254 counties, there are over a dozen without real hospitals - and 3 without any physicians. We don't have the option of jacking up state income tax to fill state coffers - because we don't incur that financial burden on our citizens. Our state constitution mandates a balanced budget -period. Despite that - maybe because of it? - we still have a healthy economy. No collapsed housing bubble - no skyrocketing unemployment stats. New grads can still get jobs here.... 'nuff said.

Here - in our 'right to work' state, companies must compete fairly in the marketplace for qualified employees. If a hospital is not paying competitive wages or providing competitive benefits, they can't keep nurses or recruit new ones. I know that our absolute belief in the rights of the individual may sometimes come back around and bite us in the rear (tntc examples). But, I do love the fact that employee recognition and reward is based on individual performance, not seniority.

Sorry about hijacking the thread, but don't mess with Texas. OK - I feel better now.

HM2VikingRN, RN · Mar 7, 2009

1. All states are required to present a balanced budget each biennium. (There may be an exception but in general thats the requirement)

2. Right to work usually equals RTW for less.

3. Attacking a steward as "stupid" is not a way to win an argument. For that matter your knowledge of due process and just cause would make you a good steward.

4. The union does not write the Nurse Practice Act that is done by the BON and the state legislature.

5. I wasn't attacking Texas but simply pointing out the strong correlation between a strong labor movement, good education and public health.

6. A 3% increase in dues is not the same as a 1% salary increase. (at 75 k a 1% salary increase is 750/year. A 3% increase on 800/year dues is 24 bucks for the year.)

7. I don't know how your health insurance benefits are structured. If provided by your employer as part of the collective agreement A significant portion of your salary increase was probably consumed by health care inflation.

diane227, LPN, RN · Mar 7, 2009

I loved Ben Taub. so glad to hear from someone out there.

I do not get health insurance benefits from my hospital because, again, thanks to the bang up job that the union did "for us" the premiums are so high that I cannot afford them. I get benefits via my husbands work, Harborview Medical Center. All the employees there are state employees and they have a choice between about 10 different plans. And the premiums are almost nothing.

In addition, our vacation and sick time are almost nothing compared to the vacation and sick time benefits that I got in Houston.

I have gone to meetings. I have reviewed contracts and given my input. Nothing. Like I said, perhaps the people in our union are just stupid.

vashtee, RN · Mar 7, 2009

The unions in California were key to having reasonable nurse to patient ratios made law. That was the one fantastic thing they did.

On the other hand, I believe my union is about to strike over the hospital's offer of hourly bonus merit pay (in addition to our regular raises), which I think is stupid, so right now I don't think they are helping us much.

diane227, LPN, RN · Mar 7, 2009

I guarantee you that I won't ever be going out on strike. I never intend to leave my patients without a nurse. Union or no union. They can't stop me from crossing the line.