So I'm facing an issue at this hospital I'm working at in Long Beach. I signed a contract for 13 weeks, 48 hours a week with Fastaff and have been here about 8 weeks. Apparently they have been in negotiations with their union for months now trying to get better pay, more benefits etc for their nurses but it isn't going well. The hospital is playing hardball and the union is proposing an imminent strike. There is one last day they will negotiate and then they will strike if an agreement is not made.
My first issue is the fact that the hospital suddenly started pulling in tons of travel nurses in the past 6-8 weeks when staff says previously they almost never used any travelers. So why suddenly start using all of us now? Because they were preparing for the probability of a strike of course. So my problem is that all of us regular travel nurses are here under false pretenses and the staff is asking us questions about if we'll cross the picket line and are we going to be scabs? Charge nurses have even made remarks about giving us terrible assignments if we cross the line, etc.
I've never worked a strike and never really wanted to. When I called my agent she was very elusive about what my rights would be if they went on strike during my contract. She wouldn't clearly state if I would be allowed to not work that week, or would I be penalized? Would they withhold my pay and housing stipend that week? That's a significant amount of money I would be out of pocket when I have no horse in this race so to speak.
My agent did say something about me being welcomed to cross the line and they would even raise the pay (slightly) to compensate a little. I can't imagine the S**t storm I'd be dealing with on this 39 bed super critical ICU when I would suddenly become one of the most senior nurses there. They even said I would probably be the charge nurse!
Anybody been in this situation before or have any relevant insight to my situation?
I have been "set up" before by Fastaff. In general, they are the best paying agency... but always have to be prepared to be thrown to the wolves. Sounds like you definitely were in this case. I have no ethical problem with crossing a picket line to care for patients. Yes, a huge part of the reason is the increased pay... but, I feel strongly that patients need to be cared for regardless of the political issues of a hospital. It is not a stab in the back to staff nurses for travelers to come in and work the strike. It would be an injustice to the entire nursing profession for nurses to strike and qualified nurses not be brought in to continue providing care for patients.
interesting thought. Perhaps it could be expanded by creating a US federal response team of nurses to staff strikes. That will certainly help bring wages back down to the lowest paying areas. Of course, those nurses would have leave gaps in the care of other patients they leave to work strikes.
All patients would be cared for if no one worked strikes. Those affected hospitals are bypassed by emergency services and patients who need care beyond the required 30 days strike notice would be transferred. Of course, it would never get to that point because hospitals would have to negotiate in good faith with unions, shutting down is not considered an option. Having scabs available means they don't have to negotiate in good faith and thus weakens the power of unions fighting for decent pay, patient care, and good working conditions.
Are you aware that virtually all of the labor protections you now enjoy come from union actions? Those include 40 hour working weeks, overtime, breaks, minimum wage, and child labor laws. Without the foundation laid down by unions, the world would be a very different place to live in. For nurses specifically, we don't have to go back very far to find the abusive working conditions and pay less than garbage collectors.
perfexion, ASN, RN
292 Posts
I thought they settled already.