How Many Nurses are Glad They Have a Union

Nurses General Nursing

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I think it would be very helpful to nurses out there to know how a union either helped them OR did not help them in their jobs as nurses.Please tell your union story are the union dues worth the protection, did your union rep represent you adequatly? What union do you think has the most clout? Etc, etc. etc.

I am kind of nervous of unions because of hospitals are not money making businesses, though hospitals need nurses in order to function, I do not want nurses having to strike in order to get their way. Through all this the patients must come first.
OMG!! hospitals are not money making businesses? EVEN the so called non profits' bottom line is MONEY, where have you been?I dont mean to be rude but you cant possibly be this naive? Unions are not money making business either then, as they were formed to protect the nurses who care for the patients.I truly cannot believe how there are still nurses out there that dont realize that the patients are the first in line to suffer when the nurses suffer ( shortstaffing, retaliation for reporting illegal/ unethical practices, etc, etc, etc.)YIKES!!!:trout:
Specializes in Utilization Management.

I don't think unions have done much to improve working conditions. We have union and non-union hospitals here in Florida, and it's pretty much the same pay, benes, and problems everywhere you go.

So I don't see that unions have done much for us, overall. Except in CA.

I'm non-union, BTW, and with all due respect, unless a union can really guarantee some great changes for my dollar, I'll stay that way.

Specializes in Correctional RN.

I emphatically disagree. For-profit hospital - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A blanket statement that hospitals are not money making businesses will make folks wince.:paw:

I am kind of nervous of unions because of hospitals are not money making businesses, though hospitals need nurses in order to function, I do not want nurses having to strike in order to get their way. Through all this the patients must come first.
Specializes in Looking for a career in NICU.

The union was the very reason they couldn't fire my mother (when they tried to) after working almost 40 years in the same hospital...the last 5 years they were doing everything they could to get her to take early retirement but she refused to do it, so they made her life a living hell.

She was convinced if her hospital had been non-union, she would have lost her job.

Her pension was also protected, so when the hospital and the system shut down the YEAR she was to retire, she got every dime of it.

Unions do not seem to do anything on the surface, but they are there for you if you lose your job unjustly, and may be the reason you don't get canned over something petty.

Specializes in Med Surg.

had a friend who worked in one of our union hospitals....she was reprimanded by the union rep for taking a patient off the bedpan instead of calling the cna because "if you're seen doing her job often enough, management will take her job away". she started referring to the care there as "patient fractured care" and left.

my sisters have not had positive experiences with their nursing unions....one did not get any back up when her hours were cut to part-time; the other one is still being harassed for thousands of dollars of dues that were not deducted from her paycheck even though she sent many written requests for them to do so. about 2 years after she started her job, the union wanted back dues, and they wanted them all now. their position was that since it's a closed shop, she had to pay to stay employed; even though they neglected to take them out. she never actively sought their assistance during that time, and they didn't negotiate anything during that time.....what she's trying to do now is donate the back dues to charity so she can keep a roof over her head while she pays it....the charity will let her make payments.

i never wanted to work for a union. i know it's no reflection on most other unions, but my dad was management and boy did we get grief. when he reported a man smoking pot in the warehouse, we got our cars keyed in the parking lot, we got obscene phone call from employees who would have someone else ask specifically for his kids and then get on the phone and say really scary things. my dad is a tough mid-western man and he had to apply for stress leave after the man won his appeal. so, unions just make my hair stand on end. i know that's an experience that few people have, but i had it, so there it is.

then there's the closed shop issue. i don't want to pay for representation that i may never need, to have my dues sent to politicians that i wouldn't vote for. it's irrelevant whether i would want the benefits that other unions have provided. they're already there and i can't say yes or no to them. and i guess i don't want the future ones, because i'm choosing to not work at a union facility. i've been here for more than 12 years and never felt any less than fully supported.

"steps off of her soapbox and goes back to whatever it was she was doing"

Specializes in cardiac med-surg.

$ 50 a month union dues in ontario

expired contracts usually go to arbitration

glad i have a union

As I've stated in other posts, I feel it's so important for nurses to organize. Management only looks out for themselves and the bottom line.

Also I've been represented by good reps in 2 different unions with good results at both facilities. At my present facility, the leadership with the help of of our rep just got a member her job back after being wrongly accused of abuse. All I know is I don't want to work in a facility today without union protection!!!!!!

had a friend who worked in one of our union hospitals....she was reprimanded by the union rep for taking a patient off the bedpan instead of calling the cna because "if you're seen doing her job often enough, management will take her job away". she started referring to the care there as "patient fractured care" and left.
with all due respect that is total bs, i worked for a unionized hospital and non unionized nursing homes.i often helped the cna's out with their work, i was a union stewart!!i also never needed the help or protection of a union until after being in the field for 27 years, working in a non union ltc facility. fired for reporting a very serious illegal/ unethical practice of my employer.luckily in my state , we have a retaliation protection law, which many states do not have.i am now in the court system sueing my former employer for illegal retaliation, thank god for our state law. unions have the power to get state laws like this, also patient/staff ratios as in california. lets all get our collective heads out of the sand, isnt it way past time?nurses are not stupid, why are we continuing to play into the hands of the corporations and their greed? even my son in law who is a ceo of a large company, very anti union agrees that with the type of work that healthcare workers do and the caliber of the healthcare corporations, nurses should unionize for mutual protection, he has seen what has happened to me.

So I don't see that unions have done much for us, overall. Except in CA.

Angio, I believe you may be beginning to see the light!There are unions all over the country aligning themselves with the California nurses union.:biere:
We have union and non-union hospitals here in Florida, and it's pretty much the same pay, benes, and problems everywhere you go.

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Where are the union hospitals in Florida? Are there any in Orlando? Just curious.

Specializes in L & D; Postpartum.
I am kind of nervous of unions because of hospitals are not money making businesses, though hospitals need nurses in order to function, I do not want nurses having to strike in order to get their way. Through all this the patients must come first.

I work in the Puget Sound Area for a for-profit hospital. Believe me when I say that they would love to decrease the cost of the work force, i.e., nursing salary expenses, and without out union, we'd probably be paying to do our jobs.

Specializes in Utilization Management.
Where are the union hospitals in Florida? Are there any in Orlando? Just curious.

Yes, apparently SEIU has a local in Orlando. Scroll down for the links. I have no idea which facilities they serve.

SEIU Florida Healthcare Union

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