vicki444

we've had union for about 20yrs,so yes you're ahead of the game.I feel when a nurse is working in that size unit-the pay should be higher--i've only seen things from happening there by watching NYPD blues(ha) thanks for sharing--vjg

thanks again jt--would you ever be interested in a program where the hospitals would let us have a penpal(professionalpal)ha,where we could take turns visiting each others unit for a couple weeks--i can only imagine the work load a brooklyn hospital must carry compared to my planetree hospital here. AND thats got to be the difference in that payscale--cost of living is 20% higher,yet pay is 50% higher. you see for 28yrs,my scale is 54000(whew)but i couldn't trade spots-happy monday soon!

i forgot to answer the other question-- we were 6mon in to the new contract with no settlement--so ADM offered a 10%,no retro but added 5% jan002 and 4% jly002 to run until jly03. Since the 19% was offered in the next 11months,it's like comparing the retro as one check but the gain goes on, year after year. You add our $4 noc diff(8300 a yr)and that's hard to beat. Let me know if you do! call time will be 3.25(OR earns excessive call, for over 16hrs at$4hr),wkend is $1hr plus $50bonus/8hrs/when you work extra--vjg

HELLO to Lebanon and NYC--i don't see an area to respond separately so i'll respond to both---yes MCMC is a planetree hospital and beautiful as you heard--this is my 28th year--of course you always have some around who aren't happy--problems are common everywhere with the shortage and management seems to handle it as best they can(as well as most nurses) we just added a state of the art cancer center-it has the latest in radiology,waterfalls,hottub-many plus'with the patient in mind(in fact we're hiring in that area,as well as ICU and others) THERE is a relocatin bonus but nothing like NYC--do they make you sign for a certain length of time to collect that 26k. I will compare the cost of living chart & let u know vjg

thanks jt--interesting remarks--fair share was next to wages on the table-but the reason management didn't want to go for it is because of the nurse shortage- they don't want to run anyone off--our dues are deducted each pay period and run $20 x 26 pay periods--step 1 starts at 18.44 +5% jan002,then 4% jly002. what is your start and top scale? Our top will be $27.45 jan002. interesting comparing coast to coast(Oregon to NYC)

hi shav--did you notice we're both in oregon--soooooo hello neighbor--are you in negotiations?---40 is hi for union dues-i wonder what other states pay or if it's related to cost of living in your area--if you have 40 nursesx$2 a payperiod x26 x2yrs =4160 collected or the nurses who don't belong could pay something = to dues--i think it would raise/help a lot. talk later

we finished negotiations yesterday and i'm in 7th heaven--fair share was one of the main topics--I am going to suggest that those who don't belong,set up a fund,to reward the nurses who spend hours of unpaid time to settle the contract--this is the only way we can pay them back something--we agreed to a 19% increase over the next 11 months-that has to be a record--i would like to set up a letter to see if anyone has beaten that(inspirational for the teams). We have 22steps--starting goes from17.68 to 21.22 jly02--top step goes from 23.78 to 28.54 jly02--with the $4 noc diff(if you like nocs) talk again vicki

HEY BUCK KEEP IT GOING !!! 1.LPN 2.6.5 YEARS 3.OKLAHOMA 4.NO I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A LITTLE MORE. 5.NO 6.12 HOUR SHIFTS FINE WITH ME... 7.YES HE IS A GOOD RN AND A GOOD MANAGER 8.NO 9.YES, ALL NURSES GIVEN THE OPORTUNITY TO KEEP LEARNING 10.YES I LOVE IT. 11.YES BUT WE ARE ABLE TO WORK IT OUT AMONGST EACH OTHER 12.IN THE ER IT IS EITHER FEAST OR FAMINE SO TAKE IT WHEN WE CAN 13.6P TO 6A AT ONE JOB 3-11 AT THE OTHER LIKE 12,S BETTER 14.XMAS AND THANKSGIVING NOT BAD SINCE I DONT START WORK UNTIL 6P,UNLESS I VOLENTEER TO WORK AT 2ND JOB. 15.YES AND NO WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE?? 16.YES IF I FELT IT WAS NEEDED WITH NO OTHER OPTION.. 17.THIS WOULD BE A TOUGH DECISION TO MAKE.BUT IF I FELT IT WOULD BENNEFIT OUR AREA I WOULD JOIN THE CAUSE.... RN--28yrcurrent employer-OREGON,70m from Portland--$24HR-BENE FAIR--ed hours on hold- union yes(currently neg for 8%,5wks pto--breaks sometimes--no mandatory OT,but dbltime when full)work 4/10,no holidays in OR-RR--best nite diff@$4--LOOKING TO HIRE-windsurfing,ski,ocean beaches,salmon fishing---couldn't strike,pickets off time-yes on trust-contact me if you want to know more vicki ------------------ vicki444

12-hr was too long for me-it can be very tiring when busy which can cut down on performance and allow errors--it also takes away from home--so my sced is 10h--it fits the needs of my area (pacu) & me--we even have 9hr shifs--our contract allows us to vote on various shifts that works best for each area. vjgrnrr