why doesn't FL have a nurses union?

FLmomof5 · Feb 21, 2009

That all depends on your perspective.

There was a time in history where unions gave the people a voice and they were united in strength. They were sorely needed because of employer abuse....horrific working conditions, pathetic pay, and the employee had 'sold his soul to the company store'. (Goods sold to the employee on credit at inflated prices.) People lived in poverty and people DIED on the job. Unions changed the way American businesses treat their employees!

Like any other organization......power corrupts. Greed sets in. To pay for the demands of the union workers, the company had to raise prices. ($2000 of every American car sold goes to pay for the UAW benefits!) It's great for the workers....initially.

So you look at the states that currently have stong union presence. Califonia, New York, Illinois. Look at their cost of living and compare it to ours. YES! California has great working conditions for nurses, higher pay, great benefits...but, does that matter when a 2 BR 100 yo house in W. Hollywood could sell 6 years ago for $750K?!?!?! (My brother's house.)

Because of the abuses of the leaders of the AFL-CIO et. al., unions fell into disfavor with the American public. It is one thing to have good working conditions and decent pay, benefits and holidays. But, it is hard to have sympathy with striking workers (imagine Hockey and Baseball professional players!), when they have so much more than YOU (the average American Joe who works hard, is paid a decent wage and pays his bills just fine)! Right now the UAW is a prime example of what is WRONG with unions. Their companies are going bankrupt and taking handouts (your tax money) and the UAW is in the middle of contract negotiations and they are demanding pay raises! Maybe they should take a pay cut to keep their members employed?

I am sure there are other additional foundations for the reasons.....others can chime in if they wish.

Reality is....be careful what you ask for....you might actually get it!

Tweety, BSN, RN · Feb 21, 2009

Several hospitals in Florida are unionized.

One local hospital here got a union a couple of years ago. The general concensus is "they aren't really doing anything for me" kind of attitude. I'm sure it's going to take time before the benefits are seen.

phosophorus · Feb 24, 2009

some of florida is unionized.

http://www.seiuhealthcarefl.org/

The south generally has the lowest unionization in the country. Florida is no exception. Part of this is "Right to Work" laws, i.e. in states such as florida members don't have to pay union dues if they are in union shops. That means that you can get all the benefits of the union without paying anything. So people vote in a union, stop paying, bosses lead decertification campaigns and the union goes away.

Unions complain about this, but personally I think its because they organize poorly and slothfully. The reality is that if you have healthcare workers who were organized, solving problems directly on the shopfloor, and had real democracy then it wouldn't be a problem to keep the union up. Unions instead rely on a staff bureaucracy and contracts that give enough stability so they can run it like a gym membership and not a movement.

Moreover they spend more time lobbying the democrats, who betray us like all the politicians, to fix things while things go to hell in the workplace. The solution is to build unions from the ground up, run by the workers themselves and keep politicians and bureaucrats out of it. There is always the possibility of building new unions, and fighting existing ones to have more democratic and functioning structures.