Do you have a union? Should nurses strike?

cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN · Jun 24, 2006

Dear CardiacRN,
Give your mother my best wishes for a speedy union victory. No one wants to have to strike but sometimes there is no other way.
The hospital can transfere the patients out or let the managers do patient care. The work loads the hospitals are giving nurses most places is hurting pathient care.
I spent a week in the hospital in September 2005 and my day shift nurses had 10 patients each. It was scary. Nurses who stand up for their union rights are fighting not just for themselves but for everyone who might need to use the healthcare system.

They'd have to airlift everyone out to another island to transfer them anywhere! Thanks for your best wishes. It's nice for nurses to support other nurses.

Lots of excuses on this thread. I have no respect for scabs. It's dirty money.

Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN · Jun 24, 2006

[quote=1940Nurse

# 3 BTW the Air Traffic Controllers went on strike too.. What happened to them. And what about the big Airlines. They are slowly but surely pricing themselves out of the market again. Care to discuss the Michigan nurses strike.

Don't for one minute think it won't happen to nursing too. It already is with UAP's etc. In 1996 I went to a meeting of Med/Surg nurses and they showed a viedo on "virtual nurses" .. Stay at home nurses directing care of patients via the internet. Directing that care to UAP's and machines. Duke has a system in place now to monitor vital signs and record them into a computer sans the nurse.

I don't think nurses being unionized or not has anything to do with "virtual nurses" or "nurse bots". Managers want to get rid of people and automate whenever possible, in all industries.

If accepting whatever managers and CEOs want, doing whatever they say, risking pt lives and my license daily to make real nurses seem more appealing than UAPs or mechanized nurses is what I'd have to do to remain a nurse, then I wouldn't want to be a nurse.

I recommend the Kurt Vonnegut book Player Piano. I think its' message applies to this issue.

tattooednurse · Jun 25, 2006

i have worked for two union hospitals and the first one that I worked did strike and it was not the ALMIGHTY dollar that made me do it but it was the reason that I became a nurse in the first place TO CARE FOR THOSE WHO NEED us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1940Nurse · Jun 25, 2006

i have worked for two union hospitals and the first one that I worked did strike and it was not the ALMIGHTY dollar that made me do it but it was the reason that I became a nurse in the first place TO CARE FOR THOSE WHO NEED us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So you didn't strike or you gave the money you won from the strike back to the hospital.

Funny, how it's never about money and yet I've not heard one union nurse say they gave back their hard fought and won raises.

ZASHAGALKA, RN · Jun 25, 2006

Lots of excuses on this thread. I have no respect for scabs. It's dirty money.

It would be dirty money for YOU. If I don't belong to that union, then why do I have a stake in it?

Just because YOU have a stake in it, it's wrong for you to convey that some 'loyalty' to a cause I don't believe in is 'dirty' for me. You are simply projecting YOUR opinions onto others and casting dirt to those that don't share your OPINION.

So, who's being divisive here?

My opinion: unions, on the whole, are bad for nursing. So, if anybody gets a raise because of a union, can I go around shouting about their 'dirty' money?

In point of fact, it's not 'dirty' money. It's good money, which is why so many nurses are willing to be professional 'strike' workers. Think about it this way: they are, just like the unions, conspiring to earn 'top dollar' for their skills. In that respect, it's no more 'dirty' than unions themselves.

~faith,

Timothy.

grentea · Jun 25, 2006

Spacenurse- I daydream sometimes about being a nurse in California but I don't think I could ever pick up and move. It would be awesome though. I do plan on being more involved in my union and a big loud squeaky wheel about staffing issues. It's good to know that my union will back me up. :)

rambisisking · Jun 25, 2006

Man, I have typed and deleted so many times trying to say something without offending anyone. My family was and is BIG union. My uncle Johnny was the vice pres of the AFL CIO under I.W. Able. My Father and all my Uncles helped formed the local steelworkers union, even spent time in the slammer back in the old days fighting for the rights of people, and I do mean the old days.

I think unions are good and necessary in alot of jobs. I do not think they belong in nursing. I have worked in places with a union and did not join, (I am sure there are a few relatives turning in their grave right now). I did not become a nurse to go on strike, no matter what you say an entire group of workers replacing the staff can not be in the best intrest of the patients no matter how you slice it, that is not martyerism, its common sense.

I knew what Nursing was when I CHOSE it. If I am unhappy with my conditions, I am not powerless I can find a new job. We're talking about nursing here, you know nurses that everyone wants because there has been a nursing shortage since I can remember and that's a long time.

Timothy is correct in his evaluation of the system and what will make them move in my opinion. My patients, no matter where I have worked would not have been in favor of having "Whoever to fill the gap" in my place. I don't condemn you if you do go on strike, each has to live by their own ethics. But please don't just decide that if we're not on the climbing ladder to sucess that we are martyrs, some of us may have gone into nursing for very different reasons than you have, in fact I think that's pretty evident by this thread.

Very few things in this world are either all right or all wrong, it usually depends on the person and the situation.

tattooednurse · Jun 25, 2006

I did work the strike including a 20 hour shift so that the staff was there for the patients and funny thing was the hospital already gave us the raise the union went on strike for pt ratios so the left the hospital dangeroulsly short fo r3 days.

1940Nurse · Jun 25, 2006

I don't think nurses being unionized or not has anything to do with "virtual nurses" or "nurse bots". Managers want to get rid of people and automate whenever possible, in all industries.
If accepting whatever managers and CEOs want, doing whatever they say, risking pt lives and my license daily to make real nurses seem more appealing than UAPs or mechanized nurses is what I'd have to do to remain a nurse, then I wouldn't want to be a nurse.
I recommend the Kurt Vonnegut book Player Piano. I think its' message applies to this issue.

Let me see if I've got this correct.

The union gets me a 5% raise.. Easy numbers here.

My union dues go up by 1%.

The hospital offered 4%.

How am I ahead of the game with a union?

I'm not ahead............. the union is!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN · Jun 25, 2006

Let me see if I've got this correct.
The union gets me a 5% raise.. Easy numbers here.
My union dues go up by 1%.
The hospital offered 4%.
How am I ahead of the game with a union?
I'm not ahead............. the union is!!!!!!!!!!!!

The money is not the main thing. There are other things that are more important.

If I had to choose between a high-paying job w/ terrible ratios where I was at the mercy of an employer's whims, or a low paying job where I had the time, resources, and support needed to provide my very best care, I would choose the latter.

You just don't get it.

1940Nurse · Jun 25, 2006

It would be dirty money for YOU. If I don't belong to that union, then why do I have a stake in it?
Just because YOU have a stake in it, it's wrong for you to convey that some 'loyalty' to a cause I don't believe in is 'dirty' for me. You are simply projecting YOUR opinions onto others and casting dirt to those that don't share your OPINION.
So, who's being divisive here?
My opinion: unions, on the whole, are bad for nursing. So, if anybody gets a raise because of a union, can I go around shouting about their 'dirty' money?
In point of fact, it's not 'dirty' money. It's good money, which is why so many nurses are willing to be professional 'strike' workers. Think about it this way: they are, just like the unions, conspiring to earn 'top dollar' for their skills. In that respect, it's no more 'dirty' than unions themselves.
~faith,
Timothy.

Is it "dirty" money to the inept management replacement nurses? Why aren't they following the union and striking too?

Sheri257 · Jun 25, 2006

Let me see if I've got this correct.
The union gets me a 5% raise.. Easy numbers here.
My union dues go up by 1%.
The hospital offered 4%.
How am I ahead of the game with a union?
I'm not ahead............. the union is!!!!!!!!!!!!

You're not looking at the data. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, union workers nationwide made $9,000 a year more, on average, last year than non-union workers.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm

Union RN's nationwide make, on average about $6K more than non-union RN's.

http://www.rnweb.com/rnweb/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=182475&pageID=3

RN Magazine: Without a doubt, however, nurses in unions make more money. These RNs average almost $60,000 per year, about $6,100 (11%) more than their non-union counterparts. The wage gap between union and non-unionized nurses has held steady for years.

Dues vary but, last time I checked, CNA's maximum dues were $80 a month. While union dues can be a lot less than that, let's go with the maximum of $960 a year.

6,100-960 = $5,140 net benefit.

Try investing $1,000 in the stock market and getting $5,000 back within a year. You'd be lucky to get a 20 percent rate of return or $200 back.

That's why you're ahead of the game with a union.

:typing