northerner

Yeah.....I've heard about some of the "sweetheart" deals...usually involving a union that wasn't so great at representing their members. I was always surprised at how Catholic healthcare facilities fought their employees' attempts to form unions. The Catholic church is very pro-worker/pro-union. Hopefully, this agreement will allow workers at these facilities to exercise their rights without as much stress as a typical campaign. Some companies (very few) have a very clear non-interference policy when it comes to unionizing. It's a choice for the workers to make. The choice should be able to be made and debated without all the threats and fear that are so common today.

Not all unions are the same. Some unions are more concerned with bringing in new members than serving the interests of the existing members. Organizing is important....it raises the standards of all, but they must take care of the members they have. A good union strikes a balance between organizing and servicing. I have heard unhappy comments about SEIU and Teamsters before. You may want to check out the Machinists Union...http://www.goiam.org. The IAM represents healthcare workers in hospitals and nursing homes here in the upper midwest. Also, I was reading about how the AFL-CIO and Catholic healthcare facilities made an agreement to make organizing drives more civilized. It looks like it would take a lot of the stress out of it.

Union dues pay for the costs of enforcing a collective bargaining agreement. It's cheaper than a lawyer for when the employer pulls stuff. There are thousands of unionized healthcare workers around the country, and in Wisconsin. Not all unions are the same. Some just collect money from the members and aren't so good at representing the needs of the workers, but a union is only as strong as the workers that are in it. The Machinists Union represents healthcare workers at some nursing homes in Wisconsin, the U.P. of Michigan, and Minnesota. They even have some LPNs and RNs. You can check out their website...http://www.goiam.org. Or just find a district office in either Milwaukee, LaCrosse, or Wausau, and give them a call. They can give you the details confidentially.