Good Samaritan and San Jose Regional Medical Center RNs Approve Contract

PICUPNP · Aug 9, 2009

How sad. Yet another hospital falls to the evil union.....

nicurn001 · Aug 11, 2009

How sad. Yet another hospital falls to the evil union.....

How sad all you see , is the evil union .

I am not exactly enamoured by the activities of some management , but I know that managements run the full gamut from Heavenly to evil .

Are we to take it you are against " Strengthened protections for compliance with safe RN-to-patient staffing ratios law in California. These include a guarantee that patients will be cared for when their RN takes a meal or rest break, an increase in unit staffing to meet the ratios at all times, and new procedures to resolve disputes over future staffing issues "

Or would you enlighten us to the evils this union did in this particular case ?

Or are you so biased that you cannot accept that the union can ever do some good ?

nicurn001 · Aug 11, 2009

I do wish , that in our discourse , we were not so polarized , while I am on the progressive side of the political spectrum , I try to find opinions from both sides of a debate and am pragnatic enough to accept that one side is not always right .

In labor relations there needs to be a balance between labor and management . When I was growing up in the UK , in the 70's labor had to much power , that was redressed by Margaret Thatcher and was necessary . I have lived in the USA since the late 80's , the balance of power between labor and management is way too much in favor of management here .

In 2008 , 12.5% of the workforce was unionized , yet we still hear that all that ails industry is the unions fault , why is it that the 87.5% that is controlled by management do not get blamed ?/

PICUPNP · Aug 13, 2009

As I've said in previous posts, i DO NOT believe that unions should exist within the nursing profession. Abandoning patients during strikes, artificially inflating salaries, taking away the ability to speak to management without a union rep, as well as the ridiculous dues aren't the things that I see a positive aspect of my career. You will have to come to the realization that my viewpoint is not going to change. If the NNOC shows up at my hospital in Texas, I will fight its entry toothand nail. I can speak for myself. Thanks

nicurn001 · Aug 14, 2009

We are all entitled to our opinions , fortunately in the countries I have lived in we are free to express our opinions . In this forum we all see threads that pique our interest , then participate in them , sometimes our use of words without the nuances of face to face communications portray a different emphasis . For example my use of we and our , is not meant in the singular ie. me and you , but rather the community of participants to these threads .

I am not trying to change your opinion , I am simply offering my counter view for other readers of this thread.

"Abandoning patients during a strike " Management is forwarned of strikes , so they can take appropriate action to ensure safe care of patients . The strike only occurs if a majority of nurses at the facillity vote for it , Nobody likes to go out on strike , so there needs to be a strong cause for the majority of nurses to vote for a strike .

'Artificially inflating salaries' While management always offers an adequate levels of compensation ?, management will always pay the smallest amount they can get away with !

"Taking away the ability to talk to management without a union rep ."Nothing stops a union member from talking to management , in fact we encourage it . What you cannot do is negotiate , as an individual , to gain personal advantage .

Dues are simply the costs of the benefit you accrue as a union member( obviously if you don't like unions , this is a cost you would prefer not to bear , but is only borne after a majority , through a free vote , at a facillity has voted for union representation).

PICUPNP , you are obviously set in your opinion of being anti Union , but it does no good to not recognise the reality of the positive as well as the negative points of the opposing view . Like I said earlier in the thread ,what is needed for good labor relations is a balance of power between labor and management , is that both sides feel vested in a good outcome ,if so , a good outcome will occur .

cardiacbeeatch · Aug 20, 2009

Thank you for making reasoned and thoughtful arguments in favor of simply entertaining empowerment in the form of unionization, balanced with management.

Unfortunately, many nurses fail to clearly see their true position/role within the administrative hierarchy in many (not all) hospitals: manipulated cheap labor, that are treated as disposable ("We can find someone else to do your job.")

Many hospitals, particularly in these economic times (and in the last five or so years) have adapted a business model of modus operandi.

That model does not bode well for safe patient care and delivery, nor effective and safe nurse practice.

A union, particularly the NNOC which is now the National Nurses United has always had the agency and agenda of advocating for patients rights, patient safety, universal health care for all, and empowering the profession of nursing and nurses.

How this nurses union and their collective efforts can be equated to 'evil' is beyond logic.

Unionizing nurses is an arduous and at times thankless task.

Many nurses are afraid. Some nurses fear retaliation (getting fired) within their respective institutions for just seeking information about unions or attending a meeting!

Does that sound like an administration/management that is for open discussions about nurse pay, patient ratios, patient safety or nurse empowerment from you or your nurse manager?

Many nurses tend to think that they will be standing alone against an overwhelmingly strong and powerful adminstration or management hierarchy. Presently, they are. That is one of the reasons for apathy within nursing and feeling that nothing will change.

With unionization, there is power in numbers. No one stands alone.

I do not wish to polarize, yet it appears the argument and/or argumentor is basing their information on faulty information; or better yet, no information about present day nurse unionization efforts and practice.

I encourage all nurses to lend their voices to this collective empowering effort.

You can articulate the direction and vision of a powerful nurses union ... only if you participate. If not, the practice of nursing will never reach it's full potential.

If not for you, do it for the nurses that come after you.

And yes, I am proudly a NNOC/NNU member.

Adrienne Zurub, RN, CNOR

http://adriennezurub.typepad.com

PICUPNP · Aug 22, 2009

Nice speech. The unfortunate part of this is that there are actually nurses out there that buy into this union mess. The only thing that comes out of unionization is the dues from your pocket. The nurses in Texas, for the most part, have faired well throughout the years without union intervention and will continue to do so. I see it as unfortunate that the hospital in Houston chose to unionize, but Texas is historically an anti-union state and the number of hospitals conquered by the nnoc will remain at a minimum. I just think that it is sad you all continue to disperse your union propaganda to the masses, but that is what free speech is all about....

allnurses Guide · Aug 22, 2009

How sad. Yet another hospital falls to the evil union.....

Registered nurses at these hospitals have been represented by CNA for decades.

When HCA took over in the ninties nurses worked with elected officials to keep hospitals open and prevent a monopoly in the area.

This was to keep ER services available throughout the city.

A bit more about HCA RNs:

California - http://www.calnurses.org/facilities-bargaining/hospital-corporation-of-america/

I all states with HCA hospitals - http://www.calnurses.org/hca/

youknowho · Aug 22, 2009

I previously worked at one of these facilities and all I can say is that the RNs there work their tails off and deserve the fantastic contract they got. We were in negotiations and working without a contract for over a YEAR! There were many days of up and downs. Disappointments. But in the end we stuck together with the support of CNA and the RNs won big time. Too bad I left since they were about to start a 9% raise plus the extras we needed to ensure patient safety.

PICUPNP: I really don't care what you say about unions but in this neck of the wood, we are very unionized. Everyone. All facilities in the area have a union. CNA or RNPA or SEIU no name a few. And most of us grumble to see the money go out every paycheck but then when we get a good contract or have a union rep there for us during a grievance process..makes you reevaluate the union. You dont want one and dont have one, great. Maybe that's why California has the best ratios and pay, the evil unions.

forrester · Aug 22, 2009

The question is not whether unions are good or bad, but WHAT unions are good and work for the interests of the direct care RN's.

I am not a unionized nurse, but we have to realize the incredible power discrepancy in our work places.

Administrations have all the power, nurses have very little.

This healthcare industry would replace us at the bedside in a heartbeat if they could, and continue endlessly in their efforts to do so.

For example, nursing faculties (many) have been unionized for decades, and no one questions their professionalism. Airline pilots are unionized and no one questions their professionalism.

Nursing has an ethical obligation to be patient advocates, not just at the "point of care", but globally as well.

We can barely maintain our ability to be bedside advocates as it is, and we have certainly failed to be global advocates. Our "associations" are clearly aligned with the administrations. The AONE, in fact, is a chapter of the AHA.

Just looking at the amount of money this group spends to lobby, I mean bribe, our elected officials is mind boggling. Why do you think they do that?

If we, as nurses, are to have any chance of countering these intentions, and to regain control of our practice domains, we have to be organized. Our ONLY political strength is in our numbers.

To my knowledge, there is only one group that has succeeded in countering these profit driven systems, and that is the CNA/NNOC.

I strongly urge all nurses to join and support this NNOC movement, and to move beyond this negative rhetoric about unionization. Just look at the consistency in what few nursing surveys are out there. The staffing ratio situation, particularly on the MS and Tele floors is beyond belief in many, many facilities.

This is not about union states or right-to-work (sic) states, it is about preserving and strengthening the reasons we went into nursing in the first place: to take care of our patients like we were taught to.

No one else seems to give a damn.