How to bring in a nurses union in a non union state?

8mpg · Nov 6, 2011

You dont need a union to stand up for your rights. Being from Texas, I wouldnt want or join a union. I would tell ya to get lost to be honest. Here in Texas we have councils such as a Nurse Practice Council that is responsible for being the voice of the deparments. We dont need/want unions to take our money to represent us when we can do it ourselves.

MunoRN, RN · Nov 6, 2011

Being a "right to work" state does not mean you can be fired for any reason. "Right to Work" just means you aren't required to join a union in order to work. Each state has different laws that protect you from wrongful termination which are independent of unions. I've also worked at a place where people were often fired for questionable reasons, it was unionized so that doesn't necessarily mean that won't happen if you have a union.

You can't legally be fired for trying to form a union as long as you follow the rules. The National Labor Relations Board interprets and enforces these rules (mostly from the Taft-Hartley act). For instance, you can (and will) be fired if you use company e-mail to organize, or engage in organizing activities while on the clock.

sunshinepsychRN · Nov 6, 2011

@8mpg, we have tried putting together councils to stand up for ouselves, and the admins basically pacify us and then continue to do what they want and tell us thats just the way it is. I respect your opinion on union maybe not being the way to go, but I feel helpless to change things. These are a great bunch of nurses I work with and I'm not ready to bail yet.

@MunoRN, I never really understood what my peers meant by the right to work state, I was led to believe that an employer can pretty much terminate you at will. Thanks for clarifying. I guess I'm more concerned about trying to get them to hear us, but the turnover rate speaks volumes and their attitudes have been easy come easy go, nurses are easily replaced here.

EDnursetobe · Nov 6, 2011

the less nursing unions, the better.

honestly, they just make the relationship between nurses and management worse. every tiny insignificant thing becomes a battle.

8mpg · Nov 6, 2011

Our councils are doing great for us. I have talked with many other nurses here in the DFW area of Texas and most are happy with their jobs and do not need a union. I would bail if I could find another job if I were in your shoes. You need to protect yourself

OCNRN63, RN · Nov 6, 2011

You dont need a union to stand up for your rights. Being from Texas, I wouldnt want or join a union. I would tell ya to get lost to be honest. Here in Texas we have councils such as a Nurse Practice Council that is responsible for being the voice of the deparments. We dont need/want unions to take our money to represent us when we can do it ourselves.

Yeah. You can do it all for yourselves. Till one of you steps out of line.

missladyrn · Nov 6, 2011

OP I am with you. I am also from up in the Northeast, now living in the South. We need one here too. It is amazing how many people are too afraid to stand up for themselves. There are no rights for employees where I work. Just finished a 16 hour shift for which I will only be paid 15 hours. They deduct for breaks that we can't take. I had to sneak into the bathroom to eat a bananna today.

vanburbian · Nov 6, 2011

I wish the hospital I was currently at would unionize. I worked union for the majority of my 23 years in nursing and I miss them terribly, for many reasons.

Collective bargaining is the only real power that a nurse has in determining equal pay, treatment, job security, and decent work conditions.

8mpg · Nov 6, 2011

OP I am with you. I am also from up in the Northeast, now living in the South. We need one here too. It is amazing how many people are too afraid to stand up for themselves. There are no rights for employees where I work. Just finished a 16 hour shift for which I will only be paid 15 hours. They deduct for breaks that we can't take. I had to sneak into the bathroom to eat a bananna today.

Just so you know...that is illegal. You have the right to get paid for the hours you work. The company illegally deducting pay for breaks not taken is illegal. Our hospital now forces us to take a break due to being sued recently for this problem. If you have a problem, contact your state workforce commission.

EDnursetobe · Nov 6, 2011

or you could speak with management yourself and openly discuss issues in a rational manner. And then if your needs aren't being met you could find a different job.

or maybe that's just what people in all other professions do.

Chico David, BSN, RN · Nov 6, 2011

Nursing is in many ways a funny world. We do have some of the attributes of a profession - like a high level of skill and knowledge and a strong professional duty to put the interest of the patient first. But other aspects of being a profession - like setting our own standards of practice and our own rates of compensation - elude us unless we act in unison with other nurses.

I'm not willing to let some bean counter tell me what my standards should be. And I live in a community where I am deeply rooted and where there is only one hospital. So, for me, the only option for protecting my wages, benefits and standards of practice is to do it in concert with other nurses - in other words, a union.

Those who say you have legal protections are maybe sort of half right. There is no legal protection in most places against unfair termination. You can't be fired because of your age, or your race, or your gender, but you certainly can be fired for no reason at all. You are an "at will" employee and your employer can fire you just because they are tired of seeing your face or because you mouth off too much or whatever.

It is illegal to fire you for trying to organize a union, but that law is routinely ignored. The penalties are so light and the enforcement so poor that the employers have no incentive to obey the law. The absolute most that can happen if you are able to prove you were fired for that reason is you get your job back. No damages, no penalties for them.

It is true that "right to work" just means that union membership is optional in that state. But in practice, states with those laws also tend to have very poor legal protections for workers, poor workplace safety laws, etc. Good laws in those subjects get passed because unions push them through the legislature. No unions in a state means weak legal protections for workers too. And there can be a huge gap between what the law says and how it is enforced. In your state, for example you have a governor who doesn't believe workers should have ANY rights, so the person appointed to head the agency that enforces wage and hour laws was appointed by that governor and probably doesn't think so either. So, yes, there may be some rules requiring them to give you a break, but highly unlikely that you can get it enforced effectively by yourself and likely you'll be fired if you try.

Organizing your own union is next to impossible. Too much to learn and too many ways the hospital can block it. Unions are beginning to come to the south, but it's a slow process. And it tends to be strategic. It doesn't make sense to just randomly organize single hospitals far from a union's base, so they tend to look for opportunities to organize several in an area. NNU (National Nurses United) is branching out a lot. In the last 18 months or less we have won 14 organizing elections in Florida, with another one coming up soon. So the day when there are real opportunities to organize in other southern states may not be that far away. Your options right now are pretty much be patient or move somewhere else.