California Nurses Association may be targeting University of Chicago after Cook County win
If there's a campaign map on the wall at the Oakland, Calif., headquarters of the California Nurses Association, the Chicago area must be ground zero.
Since winning away Cook County's 1,800 nurses from the Illinois Nurses Association, the independent union has linked with nurses at more than 20 Chicago-area hospitals with the goal of organizing a handful of them, union officials say.
One possible target is the University of Chicago Hospitals, where workers from the national organizing arm of the California Nurses have been talking with nurses.
They say they are only helping the 1,300 University of Chicago nurses, who belong to the Illinois Nurses Association. But they do not rule out an eventual organizing drive like the one they successfully staged at Cook County.
The situation is "reminiscent" of what happened with Cook County's nurses, confirmed Fernando Losada, head of Midwest operations for the National Nurses Organizing Committee, the national arm for the California Nurses Association.
Kevin I think I understand what you want from your posts, which is to not join a union or pay dues or gain anything from a contract. In the US anyone who works at a facility in a job covered by a contract is covered by that contract weather or not they personally join the union. They get all the pay raises and will be afforded other protections of the union should they need them. Unions by law cannot use dues for political lobbying, that is seperately raised money. There are states in US that are called 'right to work states' if you live in those states and you work in a facility with a contract you are still covered by the contract even if you don't join the union, but in these states if you don't join the union you do not pay dues. Wages , benifits and retirment benifits tend to be lower in these states. Visit some of these states on the state specific forums and check them out, some examples are Missisippi, North and South Carolina. I personally think that anyone getting the benifits of the contract should pay dues. Your wife can either find a job in a non-union facility or yes she will pay dues as California is not a 'right to work' state.
Kevin I think I understand what you want from your posts, which is to not join a union or pay dues or gain anything from a contract. In the US anyone who works at a facility in a job covered by a contract is covered by that contract weather or not they personally join the union. They get all the pay raises and will be afforded other protections of the union should they need them. Unions by law cannot use dues for political lobbying, that is seperately raised money. There are states in US that are called 'right to work states' if you live in those states and you work in a facility with a contract you are still covered by the contract even if you don't join the union, but in these states if you don't join the union you do not pay dues. Wages , benifits and retirment benifits tend to be lower in these states. Visit some of these states on the state specific forums and check them out, some examples are Missisippi, North and South Carolina. I personally think that anyone getting the benifits of the contract should pay dues. Your wife can either find a job in a non-union facility or yes she will pay dues as California is not a 'right to work' state.
Well you are partly right, as to what I want.
I want the ability to opt out of a union altogether, even though others in the facility may want it. Fine. Let them have it. Let them bargain collectively for them, and whatever benefits and pay that they get for them with their dues...more power to them.
I would rather not join the union, nor pay their dues, and in the interest of fair play for those that do pay the dues, would be willing to bargain my own wages and benefits package myself. Some things the union may be the better deal, in others, my own deal would be better.
IF unions are truly for workers and want what is best for said workers, then they should have little problem with people opting out of their "protection" and fending for themselves. No?
That way, I do not benefit from your dues, nor do I have suffer the intolerable politics of the union, as well as get merit based raises and promotions etc...
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
It really would depend on the work environment. There have been quite a few nurses who are members here at allnurses.com that have successfully negotiated and gotten all the terms they asked for in gaining/securing employment contracts in some places. It just depends on
the negotiating skills of an individual
the receptiveness/environment of the administation/place of employment
I would not say it's not "real world" to be able to do this. But in some places, it can be next to impossible. That is why some places voted in unions in the *first* place!
Any employee that thinks they can bargain on their own with management is not in the real world.
Why?
I have done it, I know that I have a valuable skill and even more valuable experience. Other people do it everyday. They either like and accept the terms or they do not. IF they liek the facility and do not like what it is that the facility has to offer, then they may ask for more, if the facility does not think that they are worth more, they may not offer...
I do not have to have the union to tell me how much I am worth, nor do I need them bargain said worth for me. I
f others are uncapable, then let them join the union and have the union bargain for them.
SEIU is a poor union choice for nurses. It's ties to management are way too close! If given the choice, CNA is better and is dedicated to nurses.
Hey: Let's focus on uniting nurses than discrediting my union , Nurse Alliance --SEIU--which is the largest healthcare workers union in the country with RN contracts in several dozen states--including right to work states like TN, Las Vegas, and Florida!
We are very proud of our history and accomplishments!
And yes we struggle with management to maintain our gains in solidarity with nurses in the cna, the uan, and every other organized registered nurse in our country.
Instead of competiting with one another-- let's focus on organizing the un-organized!
SEIU is a poor union choice for nurses. It's ties to management are way too close! If given the choice, CNA is better and is dedicated to nurses.
Hey: Let's focus on uniting nurses than discrediting my union , Nurse Alliance --SEIU--which is the largest healthcare workers union in the country with RN contracts in several dozen states--including right to work states like TN, Las Vegas, and Florida!
We are very proud of our history and accomplishments!
And yes we struggle with management to maintain our gains in solidarity with nurses in the cna, the uan, and every other organized registered nurse in our country.
Instead of competiting with one another-- let's focus on organizing the un-organized!
Hi there Land Shark: I totally agree with your comments. Together we can do so much more for our patients and our profession. But, divide and conquer is still a powerful tactic when it is camouflaged under the disguise of the "capable and qualified independent practitioner".
As professionals, Registered Nurses have been lulled into a false sense of self worth that has us thinking that individually raising objections on unsafe assignments, patient load, or practices from the perspective of our scientific knowledge and education will make changes happen. Last time I checked, one person, one voice, were not as strong or effective as a large number.
As a proud member of the Nurse Alliance -SEIU- I can say that we achieve so much more when we work together, as a team!
Ok this thread has gone in alot of directions but the start was abour unions, in this case the CNA raiding another union. Alot of CNA members have been to this thread, what do you think about it? As I said before I think unions should focus on organizing the unorganized insted of raiding.
I work in Las Vegas, Nv. I am an active Union Nurse. I am part of SEIU. This is a union that represents all units in the health care. The nurses make up the largest group and we are very active with other locals across the country. We as a group need to stand up for Patient and Nurse rights. It is time for the corporations to put Patients before profits. I am proud to be a union nurse. I wish the CNA would represent other units in the hospitals. They need a union as much as we do. With out the other units we would not be able to do our jobs.
mobileRN
35 Posts
Kevin I think I understand what you want from your posts, which is to not join a union or pay dues or gain anything from a contract. In the US anyone who works at a facility in a job covered by a contract is covered by that contract weather or not they personally join the union. They get all the pay raises and will be afforded other protections of the union should they need them. Unions by law cannot use dues for political lobbying, that is seperately raised money. There are states in US that are called 'right to work states' if you live in those states and you work in a facility with a contract you are still covered by the contract even if you don't join the union, but in these states if you don't join the union you do not pay dues. Wages , benifits and retirment benifits tend to be lower in these states. Visit some of these states on the state specific forums and check them out, some examples are Missisippi, North and South Carolina. I personally think that anyone getting the benifits of the contract should pay dues. Your wife can either find a job in a non-union facility or yes she will pay dues as California is not a 'right to work' state.