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.
CyFair Houston Texas Nurses have won the right to continue building the only genuine "SAFE HARBOR" for nursing practice and patient advocacy in Texas! There is strength in Union, and in solidarity with all the members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee, their fight is our fight.:redbeathe
CyFair nurses are a beacon of hope for all RNs who are organizing in Texas...and beyond. Collectively, and in unity, they have the ability to focus a powerful light on abusive workplace practices; to expose and overcome barriers to their ability to provide safe, therapeutic, and effective care for patients.
The really good news about Cyprus Fairbanks is that the victory there was built on a very solid foundation of a lot of work across Texas, building regional, metropolitan and chain wide committees and that nurses from all over Texas helped on the campaign, gaining experience they will take back to the process of organizing their own hospitals. In a few years, the nursing landscape in Texas will look very different indeed.
The really good news about Cyprus Fairbanks is that the victory there was built on a very solid foundation of a lot of work across Texas, building regional, metropolitan and chain wide committees and that nurses from all over Texas helped on the campaign, gaining experience they will take back to the process of organizing their own hospitals. In a few years, the nursing landscape in Texas will look very different indeed.
I want to agree, but I do think Timothy makes a solid point about dues being voluntary. Although I do suspect in the Cy Fair case some of the "no" votes were a result of threats from mgmt (hence they are giddy it passed [and I'll acknowledge there were some "yes" votes as a result of peer and/or union leader coercion]), the fact still remains that an overwhelming majority was not in favor of unionizing. So how can one expect these 100+ (out of 200+) "no" voting nurses to pay them if they don't have to; and this absolutely weakens this union because it weakens numbers and you develop resentment between dues payers and those who choose to enjoy the fruits of the dues payers' efforts with no personal financial, social, physical commitment. I wish there was a published stat (and maybe there is, I dunno) on what % of nurses working in any given open shop hospital actually paying dues.
I really do wish some Cy Fair nurses would join in on this discussion to give us a sense of morale, and sentiments for/against the union. What's happening? Is it an intense environment? Are people generally nervous? Or excited? Or upset?
What it all boils down to is the reality of organizing in an "open shop" setting in the so-called "right to work" states. (It should be "right to work for less"). There are unions and bargaining units in those states that are very successful, have strong unions, high percentage of members paying dues, etc. But to do it, you can never rest. You have to act like you are in an organizing campaign every day. In a "closed shop" or agency shop situation, you can get a little bit complacent and get away with it. If you are going to be successful in an open shop, you can never let up on your organizing and communicating with your members. Showing them the benefits of the union, being there for them when they need help. With most of our members in states where we don't have to deal with that, we need to work a little differently in the "right to work" states, but we can't build a national movement without including those states, so we have to show we can succeed there. And we do know how.
I have no problem with fair share members who pay only for the costs associated with negotiations incurred by the union and choose not to be full members. I do have a problem with people who don't think that they should pay their fair share to receive the demonstrated benefits of collective bargaining. Open shop without fairshare contribution provides management with a tool to break the union.
A freeloader by any other name is still a freeloader.
I do have a problem with people who don't think that they should pay their fair share to receive the demonstrated benefits of collective bargaining. Open shop without fairshare contribution provides management with a tool to break the union.
You've just described Texas Law.
That is MY point. By Law, a union can't survive in Texas without continued and sustained outside help. There will NEVER be enough dues paid to support the union. The ONLY way NNOC could unionize 50 hospitals or more in Texas would be to increase their dues in California to offset the lack of dues being paid in Texas.
I would be surprised if HALF of the 119 nurses that voted for the union actually join it. Why should they? They will NOW get all the benefits of a union, without the dues. This is the 'free rider problem of economics' in action.
So, Cy-Fair is going to have a union with maybe 60 employees paying dues, out of 300. How powerful is that union going to be? It's symbolic, and nothing more. Should they strike? 240/300 nurses left to fill the gap ensures constant and persistent coverage from the remaining nurses, and that is without the need to bring in replacement workers.
One thing not being part of the union DOESN'T GET YOU: the right to participate in a union strike.
FAR more important than a union to improve working conditions and salaries is the brand new North Cypress Medical Center down the road. Competition has arrived. Either conditions improve, or local employees can 'vote with their feet' right down the street.
Timothy: See my comment two up. There are vigorous, active, effective unions in open shop states. Not a lot of them, but they do exist. The key is to be a really good union and convince the members it's worth it. The union staff and member leaders have to be in permanent organizing mode. There are many thousands of unorganized nurses in this country, and many of them in "right to work" states. If we are going to build a national movement, we can't write them off. We have to organize them too. It can and will be done. It just requires better strategy and better execution than most unions can manage these days.
Timothy: See my comment two up. There are vigorous, active, effective unions in open shop states. Not a lot of them, but they do exist. The key is to be a really good union and convince the members it's worth it. The union staff and member leaders have to be in permanent organizing mode. There are many thousands of unorganized nurses in this country, and many of them in "right to work" states. If we are going to build a national movement, we can't write them off. We have to organize them too. It can and will be done. It just requires better strategy and better execution than most unions can manage these days.
Texas is very anti-union. Most people feel that way, it's not just the 'corporate' types. I submit that 119 votes out of over 100,000 RNs in Texas is an anomaly; it's far short of a movement. It's not that the unions are 'writing them off'. It's that Texas nurses, by and large, write off unions.
I don't discount the need for a union in particular circumstances. I don't WANT your 'national movement'. If you want a national voice, try an effective professional organization. Kick the ANA to the curb and see if we can come up with a national organization that actually represents bedside nurses.
Texas is very anti-union. Most people feel that way, it's not just the 'corporate' types. I submit that 119 votes out of over 100,000 RNs in Texas is an anomaly; it's far short of a movement. It's not that the unions are 'writing them off'. It's that Texas nurses, by and large, write off unions.
I don't discount the need for a union in particular circumstances. I don't WANT your 'national movement'. If you want a national voice, try an effective professional organization. Kick the ANA to the curb and see if we can come up with a national organization that actually represents bedside nurses.
~faith,
Timothy.
We could do better than our BON too. They protect the "consumer", but run no risk of losing their job. However, if we do the same and get fired, well, so sorry for our luck because the BON doesn't care.
I do believe that in the long run of history that the arc bends towards justice (with apologies to MLK).
I don't necessarily think that all Texas nurses oppose organization. I think that the culture of labor intimidation practiced by management (AND CONDONED BY NLRB) has suppressed labor activism in the south.
It will be interesting to see what happens when the Employee Free Choice act becomes law with the next congress. My guess is that employees will feel free to associate for collective bargaining and gain real power in the workplace.
I also think that emerging demographic changes in the South will strengthen the labor movement in the south. Texas is becoming a majority/minority state and this demographic change tends to drive increased interest and support for the collective bargaining process.
I do believe that in the long run of history that the arc bends towards justice (with apologies to MLK).
I don't necessarily think that all Texas nurses oppose organization. I think that the culture of labor intimidation practiced by management (AND CONDONED BY NLRB) has suppressed labor activism in the south.
It will be interesting to see what happens when the Employee Free Choice act becomes law with the next congress. My guess is that employees will feel free to associate for collective bargaining and gain real power in the workplace.
I also think that emerging demographic changes in the South will strengthen the labor movement in the south. Texas is becoming a majority/minority state and this demographic change tends to drive increased interest and support for the collective bargaining process.
Unions are on the slow fade, this is a demonstrated fact. Numbers are down, and down significantly. The Union Coercive Practices Act, even if passed, will not long contain that decline.
The secret ballot is secret, for good reason.
I don't know what south you are looking at, or, for that matter, what nation you are looking at. I see nowhere in the United States today where unions are making a comeback.
RN4MERCY
328 Posts
CyFair Houston Texas Nurses have won the right to continue building the only genuine "SAFE HARBOR" for nursing practice and patient advocacy in Texas! There is strength in Union, and in solidarity with all the members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee, their fight is our fight.:redbeathe
CyFair nurses are a beacon of hope for all RNs who are organizing in Texas...and beyond. Collectively, and in unity, they have the ability to focus a powerful light on abusive workplace practices; to expose and overcome barriers to their ability to provide safe, therapeutic, and effective care for patients.