Give me the good, the bad, and the ugly of unionizing

[Misszilla]

Some nurses where I work are trying to unionize. I’ve worked a union job that was non healthcare but never in healthcare. What can you union nurses tell me about working as a union nurse? The experience I have with a union in the past was all positive and good. Just curious if having a union in a hospital is good? Besides better pay, better or more affordable insurance and better retirement what else have you experienced as positive parts of having a nurses union at a hospital. 

[londonflo]

.

I was a nurse at a hospital where there was a bid to unionize...it gets ugly and terribly divisive.  There will be a lot of dirty bits on the hospital side, But although that union campaign was unsuccessful I changed jobs that had a union and what a joy it was! I got paid for what I did, there was no intimidation for calling in sick... I had a representative who followed the contract and the employee handbook. 

[Music in My Heart]

The positive part is simple: You have a contract which spells out the terms of employment and that contract is negotiated by an advocate on your behalf. Without a contract, you are an at-will employee, who can be terminated for any reason... or no reason at all.

The negative part is also simple: Even if you excel and are the best performer in the facility, you get paid no better than the worst.

 

[heron, ASN, RN]

53 minutes ago, Music in My Heart said:

 

The negative part is also simple: Even if you excel and are the best performer in the facility, you get paid no better than the worst.

 

Of course, performance bonuses could be written into the contract. It’s YOUR union, not some charity provided by the employer, government or whatever.

[Music in My Heart]

13 hours ago, heron said:

Of course, performance bonuses could be written into the contract. It’s YOUR union, not some charity provided by the employer, government or whatever.

I've worked in industries prior to nursing which had performance bonuses. I think it would be exceedingly difficult to generally quantify nursing performance such that bonuses could be attached.

I also haven't seen any evidence of nursing unions valuing individual bonuses...

Neither have I seen any evidence that the union gives one rip about what I think.

That said, they do a pretty solid job at what I pay them for and having worked both under and outside of collective bargaining contracts, I would choose the former every time.

 

[C E J, LPN]

We need a real Union,  a united front part of the AFL-CIO. We need to be able to take a stand for one another because the old way of doing things has not worked. Becoming, being, and remaining a Licensed Nurse is more difficult each day and it is not being recognized my most states, corporations, and Health Care entities.

https://www.change.org/HealthcareWorkersUnite

People are afraid to sign this for fear of retribution or loss of their job.  This goes much deeper than one job, no matter how long you have worked there. If we want change we have to take the steps to do it ourselves...

[Music in My Heart]

Working here in Northern California I am always struck by how often I meet travelers or transplants from anti-union 'right-to-work' states, or even locals, who denigrate unions... while benefiting from excellent wages, good benefits, and codified nursing ratios.

SMH

[heron, ASN, RN]

17 minutes ago, Music in My Heart said:

Working here in Northern California I am always struck by how often I meet travelers or transplants from anti-union 'right-to-work' states, or even locals, who denigrate unions... while benefiting from excellent wages, good benefits, and codified nursing ratios.

SMH

Funny how that works, isn’t it?