How do unions work in our field?

[uRabbit]

I am still barely a student. Have yet to begin my pre-reqs - start in Spring.

But I am interested - how do unions work in this field? In the labour industry, there are many cons when compared to the pros. Employers cannot afford unionized workers, so they go oversees looking for workers. But since we do not actually produce things, I would assume this is a little different.

I would assume that employers seek non-union members rather than union members, even if their experience is lesser. This could pose some issues, yes?

Just looking to get educated and cannot find anything via Google. :)

[Chico David, BSN, RN]

THere's a lot to tell, and you can find more in other threads under this heading, but I'll take a stab at a quick partial answer:

Union membership tends to go with the workplace, not with the person. So if you work in a unionized workplace you may (or may not depending on a number of factors) be a union member. If you work in a non-union workplace, you generally won't be a union member. Some unions have associate memberships for people who want to support what they are doing but aren't working in a unionized workplace.

Some states - mostly on the coasts, and northern mid-west - have a lot of unionized hospitals, others have very few.

Some of the state nurses associations are actively involved in collective bargaining - they are both union and professional organization. Other don't do it at all. The result of that has been that a lot of unions from other fields have seen an opportunity and organized some nurses. They include Teamsters, Steelworkers, Service Employees, Laborers and others. I'm biased in favor of nurse-run unions for nurses. Some of the others do an OK job, some not.

In some states (28, I think) your employer may have an agreement with the union there that anyone working there has to either belong to the union or pay a fee for representation in lieu of belonging. That's called a "union security agreement". In the other 22 states such agreements are illegal. Those 22 are commonly called "right to work" states. Or, by union people "right to work for less". In those states union membership is always voluntary. But even if you choose not to join, you still get whatever benefits are negotiated under the contract and the union is still obligated by law to represent you just like a member if you have a discipline issue and request their help. There tend to be few unions in those states and most of those that exist are relatively weak. Not always true though - Nevada is a RTW state with pretty strong unions, for one example. Employers are happy in RTW states and usually oppose union security agreements everywhere, because that makes for weak unions, low salaries, etc.

One could say a lot more, but maybe that answers some of the questions you might have.