Pay and pension in the union

[Toots71506]

I apologize if there is already a thread on this but I didn't see one. I'm in nursing school and have been trying to get an understanding of the differences between the union and non-union positions. Here are 2 things I'd like to know more about:

1 - In the union, is it true that every nurse with lets say 5 years of experience makes the same wage? So, you're not going to experience new nurses coming in making 10 times what current nurses w/ experience are making. (I'm experiencing this now in my IT corporate job and it drives me nuts)

2 - In the union, will the new nurses see any sort of pension? I understand that the nurses who have been there for a long time will have a pension but are the pensions for the new nurses going away or being drastically reduced even though they are in the union too?

Thanks in advance for any info you can give me on this!

[rkitty198, BSN, RN]

I am a part of a union.

Your first question is yes. If you have been a Nurse for 1 year you get paid what all first year Nurses get paid. If you work critical care then you will get more than a med/surg Nurse.

I like the union for this reason because in Texas the newer Nurses were making a few dollars more than me and had less experience!

I am not sure about the second question.

I didnt get a choice to join the union. It was if you want to work here you join the union or you lose your job in 30 days.

I like the union because I feel protected. If I feel like my assignment is dangerous I fill out a form and it is given to the union to protect me.

Honestly that is all I know about the union. I guess I should really look into where my $140.00 a month goes to.

[GM2RN]

Not all hospitals pay more for certain specialty areas. Mine doesn't. But all nurses with the same amount of experience are paid the same wage at my hospital. We also get raises every year that are predetermined by the contract.

I think it's safe to say that, in general, non-union nurses make less money per hour than union nurses in the same area. I happen to work for both types right now, and there's a $7/hr difference between them. Plus, the non-union hospital that I work for has raised my wages only once for a whopping $0.42/hr in the past 2 years, while my hourly wage at the union hospital has gone up approx. $2.50 in the same period, with another raise of $1.25/hr due in May.

I think the age of automatic pension benefits has pretty much gone the way of the dinosaur. I believe that the vast majority of hospitals provide a vehicle for you to voluntarily invest your money into a retirement account, and most will even contribute to that account as long as you contribute to it.

What generally happens is that they will require you to work for them for a minimum number of years, usually from 1-3, before you become "vested." That means that if you leave that particular facility before you have worked the required number of years, you lose any money that the facility has contributed on your behalf, but you keep the money you contributed for yourself.

[BettyBoop01]

You have to look at the contract of the position you are applying for. They are all different. You cant group all "union" positions under one contract they vary greatly. Same with non union. Some may offer pensions without a union. Read up & educate yourself on what a Union is & how it works. If you are in one, you have a say when the contract comes up for negotiations, so if something is important to you, go to those meetings and vote.