I'm posting this fast, and don't yet have all the details, but here is what I do know:
CNA just won a representation election for the RNs at Cypress Fairbanks Hospital, a part of the Tenet chain in Houston Texas.
Other than a small number of RNs employed by the federal government, this represents the first unionized nurses in the entire state a very tough organizing environment. It is the first major fruits of a three year statewide campaign.
The election was run under an organizing agreement won at the bargaining table by Tenet nurses in California.
Don't yet have numbers or other details, will make a second post when I do. I've met some of these Texas nurses and they are just the greatest. This is only the first of many organizing victories to come in this state.
Specializes in Cardiac Critical Care, Trauma, Neuro..
A few points.
1. I've been an RN for 15 yrs.
2. I never suggested that I would like all the benefits of a union and none of the responsibility. I SAID that I figured this applied to about half the nurses that voted for the union in Cy-Fair (about an hour from me).
3. That union passed only because there was an explicit understanding that joining would be optional. "Open Shop" means something, it's not just a 'trigger word'. It means the union has no power and so, there is no real need to oppose it.
4. I don't think a union WOULD particularly benefit me. Instead, I have taken my 'rugged individualism' and found a place to work that provides me with everything I need. Here in back-hick, anti-union Texas, I have one of the highest cola-adjusted salaries in the nation. My 100k house on a cul-de-sac opposite a park suits me well, as does my more-than-manageable 900/month mortgage/escrow (the value of my home has gone up 10% in the last 18 months; there is no housing crisis here, except for a shortage of good homes to buy). My CCU ratio is 2:1. Tele where I work is 4:1. Med/Surg 5:1. Without a union. I have a 503 retirement account that my employer matches some on. In addition, I have a pension fund. Last month, my employer gave me 16hrs of extra vacation time, as a reward for a productive year in 2007. Not just me, every hospital employee. It has been announced that in June, we are to receive, on top of our annual 3% cola raise, yet another 'market based adjustment' (competing with the Houston and Dallas markets). The last such adjustment, in 2006, was a 10% raise. On top of the yearly 3% raise.
My health insurance plan last year spent about 600,000 dollars on the birth of my preemie newborn. MY share was about 5 grand. Our plan went up 14 dollars/month this year. It is now $228/month for six of us.
In back water Texas. Oh, And. We're hiring.
Do I need a union? Why on God's Earth would I want to antagonize my wonderful employer? No, thank you. Unions have their place, I have never denied that. I do dispute that unions are universally beneficial. NO, they are not.
~faith,
Timothy.
A point well made!!
While the nurses in Houston may have voted in the CNA/NNOC, an important point is that Texas is a "right to work" state. This means that it is not mandatory for any of the nurses to pay dues or become union members. The union is "in" but does it have a victory?
California is not a "right to work" state. If the union is voted in the ALL the nurses MUST pay dues or the union will DEMAND their TERMINATION.
The exception to this in California was at Scripps Encinitas Medical Center in San Diego, California. The nurses were able to obtain an "open shop" contract, free from a "union security clause". This forces the union to actually make good on it's promises or lose support. The California Nurses Association FAILED to make good on its promises at Scripps Encinitas and the nurses eventually dropped membership and stopped paying dues. This then lead to a DECERTIFICATION vote and the union on April 23rd and 24th 2008 was voted out of the hospital. Scripps Encinitas is now union free.
So, Texas RN's have basically made a statement to the California Nurses Association; "Actions Speak Louder Than Words", Here is your chance. How many nurses at Cypress Fairbanks will choose to pay dues? Let's make this information public record!
Tenet Healthcare, who shamefully has sold out their employees to neutrality agreements across the country want a second look at the Houston vote.
While the nurses in Houston may have voted in the CNA/NNOC, an important point is that Texas is a "right to work" state. This means that it is not mandatory for any of the nurses to pay dues or become union members. The union is "in" but does it have a victory?
California is not a "right to work" state. If the union is voted in the ALL the nurses MUST pay dues or the union will DEMAND their TERMINATION.
I read your link. The union cannot demand termination under the law. Hiring/Firing is a management right NOT a union right. What the document does reference is a fairshare agreement. Fairshare means that bargaining unit members in effect pay for the costs associated with representing members in the collective bargaining and grievance processes but not expenses associated with the local.
Specializes in Cardiac Critical Care, Trauma, Neuro..
I read your link. The union cannot demand termination under the law. Hiring/Firing is a management right NOT a union right. What the document does reference is a fairshare agreement. Fairshare means that bargaining unit members in effect pay for the costs associated with representing members in the collective bargaining and grievance processes but not expenses associated with the local.
Not true. A group of Nurses of St John Mercy Medical Center in St Louis Missouri working under a closed shop union contract decided they were fed up with their union and stopped paying dues. The union demanded their termination. The hospital decided to back their nurses and refused to fire them. The union took the hospital and the nurses to court. The case went all the way to the 8th circuit court of appeals and the nurses and hospital LOST. The nurses were TERMINATED at the request of the union. I include the actual court documents:
Not true. A group of Nurses of St John Mercy Medical Center in St Louis Missouri working under a closed shop union contract decided they were fed up with their union and stopped paying dues. The union demanded their termination. The hospital decided to back their nurses and refused to fire them. The union took the hospital and the nurses to court. The case went all the way to the 8th circuit court of appeals and the nurses and hospital LOST. The nurses were TERMINATED at the request of the union. I include the actual court documents:
The organization failed to uphold the contract. The interpretation of the original link posted was inaccurate. The court decision was in effect holding hospital management accountable to follow the contract that was negotiated for collecting dues.
Of course if the disaffected bargaining unit members had simply started attending meetings to express their concerns they may very well have achieved the changes in their union that they wanted. Or they could have pursued decertification of the bargaining unit through NLRB. In my experience picking up your toys and going home is not a very effective way of handling disputes.
Specializes in Cardiac Critical Care, Trauma, Neuro..
The organization failed to uphold the contract. The interpretation of the original link posted was inaccurate. The court decision was in effect holding hospital management accountable to follow the contract that was negotiated for collecting dues.
Of course if the disaffected bargaining unit members had simply started attending meetings to express their concerns they may very well have achieved the changes in their union that they wanted. Or they could have pursued decertification of the bargaining unit through NLRB. In my experience picking up your toys and going home is not a very effective way of handling disputes.
The union demanded a contract that calls for any nurse to be terminated if he or she does not pay dues. It is called a "union security clause". In non right to work states this is automatic unless the nurses think ahead and demand that the union security clause be left out. The nurses of Scripps Encinitas did just that and that's why when the CNA failed to keep its promises the nurses dropped membership and were able to keep their jobs. Then they just kicked them out altogether.
The nurses of St. Johns Mercy Medical Center were angered that their coworkers were terminated at the demand of the union. The union did not have to follow through with their termination, it could have allowed an open shop and then, if they were worth the price nurses would support the union. Instead the nurses decided to have a decertification election to remove the union altogether. The vultures at SEIU tried to court the nurses saying they could do better than their old union. St. Johns nurses had learned their lesson. They decertified the UFCW and voted against organizing with the SEIU.
The union demanded a contract that calls for any nurse to be terminated if he or she does not pay dues. It is called a "union security clause". In non right to work states this is automatic unless the nurses think ahead and demand that the union security clause be left out.
No. The members (Nurses of the hospital) who worked together to negotiate a contract with the employer were the ones who put the contract language in place. The local union is its members on site not some evil nebulous entity from the galaxy that you like to portray.
It was the EMPLOYERS responsibility to then implement the contract that it had signed with the local members of the union.
Specializes in Cardiac Critical Care, Trauma, Neuro..
No. The members (Nurses of the hospital) who worked together to negotiate a contract with the employer were the ones who put the contract language in place. The local union is its members on site not some evil nebulous entity from the galaxy that you like to portray.
It was the EMPLOYERS responsibility to then implement the contract that it had signed with the local members of the union.
Right to work is right to work for less......
Rgds...[/quote
And it was the EMPLOYER who stood up for its nurses, going to court in an attempt to prevent the nurses termination. It was the UNION contract that contained the language that the UNION ENFORCED, Demanding the NURSES TERMINATION.
It was the nurses who stood up for each other and decided to TERMINATE THEIR UNION.
Everyone in this country who wants to work deserves to work. A union or the members of a union should not be the ones who decides if I or anyone else should work. Poorly thought out and extremely short sighted union negotiated contracts is what has caused so many companies to take the jobs to other countries. So in the long run we all have lost. Where there were many jobs, there are few or none. Entire "union towns" now ghost towns.
Sherwood
223 Posts
A point well made!!
While the nurses in Houston may have voted in the CNA/NNOC, an important point is that Texas is a "right to work" state. This means that it is not mandatory for any of the nurses to pay dues or become union members. The union is "in" but does it have a victory?
California is not a "right to work" state. If the union is voted in the ALL the nurses MUST pay dues or the union will DEMAND their TERMINATION.
http://k.b5z.net/i/u/6011029/i/CNA_Dues_increase_and_collections.pdf
The exception to this in California was at Scripps Encinitas Medical Center in San Diego, California. The nurses were able to obtain an "open shop" contract, free from a "union security clause". This forces the union to actually make good on it's promises or lose support. The California Nurses Association FAILED to make good on its promises at Scripps Encinitas and the nurses eventually dropped membership and stopped paying dues. This then lead to a DECERTIFICATION vote and the union on April 23rd and 24th 2008 was voted out of the hospital. Scripps Encinitas is now union free.
So, Texas RN's have basically made a statement to the California Nurses Association; "Actions Speak Louder Than Words", Here is your chance. How many nurses at Cypress Fairbanks will choose to pay dues? Let's make this information public record!
Tenet Healthcare, who shamefully has sold out their employees to neutrality agreements across the country want a second look at the Houston vote.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/052908dnbustenetrevote.ab06fd7d.html
Sherwood