I am relatively new to this board but there seems to be a trend relative to Pro and Anti-Union posts and posters.
Union membership in nursing is on the rise. Still there are more nurses who choose not to orgainize than who do. Will the trend continue to rise to a point where unions hold the majority of nurses as members? Time will tell. If I used this board as a barometer, I would think we are headed down a divided, non-constructive path.
Threads on this board seem to get heated and then closed. Some members use the board to support, without exception, their hardline position about unions. Kinda looks like some have drunk the kool-aide to a point of no return. The first ammendment is a wonderful think but it says nothing about objectivity
As long as we hold the line in one camp- union vs. management, as a profession we remain captive and dependent. It's just not reasonable or rational to think that one or the other is always working for our best interests. We all know horror stories and we can all recite great gains won by unions and facilitated by an employer.
Don't drink the kool-aide. The purple mustache is a dead give-away.
Please let's not make a sterotype of a nurse-that is a slap in the face to every republican anit union nurse in america. I know that at Board level politics are very important to nurses but let's not let it trickle down into
defining who we are. Let us define ourselves as we think we should be
defined not by some bureacratic board or union leader.
Many union activists working for improved patient care and respect for the work of nurses are Republican.
They want enough time to truly care for their patients and they are glad to have a written contract.
Most new grads remain RN I for a year. She was promoted to RN II well before that.
I will not be surprised if she applies for and earns her RN III with a much higher pay level some time next year. Of course there is much more responsibility that goes along with that.
Many fine nurses prefer to remain RN II providing excellent direct patient care. They don't have to be preceptors to new nurses and students, or do the schedule, or attend meetings and report back to the rest of the staff, or lead staff meetings, teach inservices, and such.
I became a nurse at 40. I joined this website shortly thereafter. I had no experience at all in the medical field.
I had to talk with a mentor friend of mine who has been a nurse for 25 years or so after being on here for awhile. I said that I was surprised because my impression after being on here for awhile is that nurses are for the most part liberal, Democrats, pro-union.
She said that in her experience, this wasn't true. So, I dunno . . . maybe this site is just more interesting to liberal nurses.
I'm definitely not ever going to join a union.
steph
Please I am a dyed in the wool Democrat, liberal and ANTI-UNION...
I still don't understand what your problem is. The system is pretty reasonable and is essentially based upon the "republic" form of government which runs our country.
:typing
Untrue.
A Republic isn't a place where the "will of the majority" runs free. The will of the majority is always balanced against the need (rights) of the individual.
You don't have that in a democracy.
But on the topic of the thread :::
Personally, I don't believe in unions.
But I will not stop people from banding together if they think theat will serve their cause.
I'd like it very much if there was choice involved. I don't want to be bullied, pressured, ostracized or whathaveyou just because I am (or I am not) a member of a union.
And I also don't think it's right to discriminate employees on the basis of their union status.
I think the system in the US is just fine. If you don't want to be in a union, you don't have to. Just choose a job in a right to work state or in a non-union hospital in the rest of the country. If you want to be in a union you can. Just choose a job at a union hospital.
I actually don't think this site leans one way or the other. There are plenty of anti-union posters and pro-union posters. Vive la difference!
So what happened to the posts that had the information about the political contributions (and activism)of the unions... that had links to all kinds of good info?
Is that is a program that management put in place, or is it in the union contract? Is management allowed to give "nurse of the year" a raise based on that feedback? Or would your union consider that "favoritism"? In all my years in a union hspital, the union has forbidden raises based on such things.:angryfire I think that that nurse should be able to be rewarded financially as well as have a plaque or ribbon or whatever she got...but that would undermine the "seniority" system that unions love so much.
My experience of unions is different - partly because I am in the UK I guess. I was until recently a union rep. I only stood down due to conflicts with me also being management now. In my experience, unions here negotiate nationally for wage increases, better terms and conditions etc and on an individual basis to give advice and support to members at times when they need it... until a few years ago my union also had a 'no strike' policy also - this has been removed now but we still have not had to strike. For nurses in the UK, we have seen better pay and conditions thanks to the unions, and now have a national pay scale for all NHS organisations, a knowledge and skills framework to measure ourselves against, secure personal development etc etc. Somehow I get the feeling that what has been described in the USA is very different, am I right?
I know that it is WRONG to sterotype people... but...here I go.
I was recently at a luncheon that was not a luncheon... just a group of us students getting out early and having a drink and some dinner.
Most of the students and the faculty in my institution Are democrat, liberal, and pro-union. there aren't many students that are anything else. As for me... I guess I am just a fencer.
I have been swayed by some points of view and some issues and totally dug in on other issues.
In the end I am not sure it really matters. I just want to see better patient care. I think that three patients in ICU is too many for one nurse. I think that six or nine patients on a med surg floor is too many. I think this b/c I have seen the effects on the nurses that have the excess load and the quality of care declined. I am not concerned about pay or benefits because I trust the institution to realize that I can get a job anywhere and that there are always others willing to do what they are not.
Here in the USA we are a republic. Our constitution protects the State's rights to Govern themselves. We are country that was founded on Freedom and As Little Government Interference in our lives as possible. The Supreme court will hear cases that it believes may need Federal intervention, but most often will decline to hear cases that it deems are "State Rights" issues. Congress also is supposed to uphold personal liberty for it's constituents while tempering that with laws that "protect the people" Sometimes it is a fine line. That's why it is so important for people to be involved in deciding who they send to "represent" them. If all the liberal, socialist people are involved and the conservative people are not, then we may someday have Socialist labor laws like the UK. In my opinion, I hope that NEVER Happens.
God Bless America!
So what you are saying is to just believe everything your government tells you, no questions asked. Trust that everything will just fall into place. Both houses of congress, the supreme court and the executive branch are now in the hands of the republican party. This party's primary constituent is big business/corporations. Who does that leave to advocate for our rights? Big business, including hospitals are concerned with one thing, profit margins. Larger profit margins and cheaper operating costs. They want our wage and benefits as low as possible. The only power I have as a cog in the machine is to band together with the other cogs.
pickledpepperRN
4,491 Posts
Many union activists working for improved patient care and respect for the work of nurses are Republican.
They want enough time to truly care for their patients and they are glad to have a written contract.