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.
My union contract gives RNs with 25 years bargaining senority every weekend off, or the nurse gets paid time and one-half. The majority of these nurses are off. The shifts are covered by nurses working the weekender program so the unit is not short staffed. Nephro BSN how are your Sundays off covered?
ROFLMAO.. Not working on Sundays for a chronic hemodialysis nurse is an inside joke. Patients are dialyzed Mon Wed Fri or Tues Thurs Sat.
We never work on Sundays expect for when Christmas falls during the week and the week of Turkey day.
I think the problem is that, just as often as not, UNIONS ARE BAD MANAGEMENT, TOO. Look at this thread's original subject matter: Instead of trying to successfully represent nurses, it seems that nursing unions are in a turf war with each other, raiding other unions in some spitting contest.
You let union run your job, and it takes on a life of its own. It's best interest is itself. You are a distant third now - behind management, and now them.
~faith,
Timothy.
I believe you are making a very broad statement and false statement. I belong to SEIU local 1107. It is a democratic union. We are by the way the UNION. The organizers and staff help direct us. They SEIU, does have multiple bargaining units and represents may different job classification, but within those units they have developed leaders who help direct the focus. I believe all workers in a hospital need representation. They are involved in patient care directly and indirectly. The Union also has nurses who leave there jobs for several months, like myself to work on Nursing issues. I have become much more Politically aware. I sit on several committees setup in Nevada related to patient care. I am the only bedside nurse, the rest are lobbyists for the hospitals. Which means they are there to represent the hospital interests ONLY. We need Nurses leaders to represent our patients, and profession. Hospitals are interested in profit. I am interested in protecting my patients , my self and my family. If not for the union, I would be unaware of how I could affect a change, by uniting with other nurses, including Rn's and LVN's.
Proud to be a Union Nurse and part of the Nurse Alliance
the market certainly isn't going to crash like internet stocks did. the value of california homes may drop somewhat but, it certainly won't go to zero.
tell that to the residents of love canal or three mile island.
Specializes in Happily semi-retired; excited for the whole whammy.
the market certainly isn't going to crash like internet stocks did. the value of california homes may drop somewhat but, it certainly won't go to zero.
tell that to the residents of love canal or three mile island.
why would anyone tell that to them? those places aren't in california, and the decimation of real estate values in love canal was tied directly to a specific environmental hazard, not to market forces in general. the bottom line is that those of us who have home equity are going to realize a profit. the size of that profit will be tied to when we bought and when we sell, but the value of a $700,000 home isn't going to plummet back to $200,000.
My union contract gives RNs with 25 years bargaining senority every weekend off, or the nurse gets paid time and one-half. The majority of these nurses are off. The shifts are covered by nurses working the weekender program so the unit is not short staffed. Nephro BSN how are your Sundays off covered?
If it took you 25 years in Nursing to get weekends off, or get paid extra, your union ain't doing much for you.
My union contract gives RNs with 25 years bargaining senority every weekend off, or the nurse gets paid time and one-half. The majority of these nurses are off. The shifts are covered by nurses working the weekender program so the unit is not short staffed. Nephro BSN how are your Sundays off covered?
Baylor in Texas started a similar plan. I worked that way back in the mid 80's... All without a union.
Why would anyone tell that to them? Those places aren't in California, and the decimation of real estate values in Love Canal was tied directly to a specific environmental hazard, not to market forces in general. The bottom line is that those of us who have home equity are going to realize a profit. The size of that profit will be tied to when we bought and when we sell, but the value of a $700,000 home isn't going to plummet back to $200,000.
Don't be so sure. California does have earthquakes. Maybe you should check with the folks on the Gulf coast.
Nothing in life is written in stone. Now in death that's another story.
But I do think it's rather biased to think that unions are always good for all nurses.
Some places sorely need a union. And some places: a union would undo a working system. And many of those systems DO respect nurses.
I guess it's like the threads that talk about ALL managers being bad managers. Yes, many of you have in-depth experience with bad managers. But you go too far to paint ALL managers by the same brush. And the same is true with administrations.
Would my administration pay me minimum wage if they could get away with it? Absolutely, and so with the union hospital's admins also. But in fact, a hospital with a union cannot get away with that - but neither could a non-union hospital.
Being able to 'vote with my feet' is also very powerful. But, to me, the benefit of that is that it is a type of power that I invest in myself, without being forced to add another layer of 'admin' that may or may not care about my individual situation - and point of fact, probably WON'T care about my individual situation of it unnerves the seniority that 'already paid their dues' and so don't care about anybody else.
I'll take my own chances. They aren't that bad. And I get my power 'up front', without having to wade in place for 20-30 yrs. That's one of the wonderful things about nursing, IMO: the ability to go anywhere, and get a job anywhere. I simply don't want to wait 20 yrs in a pecking order before my opinion counts.
And so, the benefit of a union has a real drawback: you are marrying the administration if you want the tenure that is the REAL benefit of a union. How many of you plan to stay in one place forever? If so, waiting your time in a seniority system that dumps on you for years and years will ultimately have its reward: you will become senior enough to dump.
If not, unions steal your real power as a less-tenured nurse in order to give it to those with senority.
Specializes in Happily semi-retired; excited for the whole whammy.
Don't be so sure. California does have earthquakes. Maybe you should check with the folks on the Gulf coast.
Nothing in life is written in stone. Now in death that's another story.
Yes, I know that, being that I live in California and all. Property values recovered after the 89 and 94 earthquakes, and they will recover after any future earthquakes. I wish I didn't have the sense that certain people in this thread take an odd joy in predicting doom for the California real estate market, but as a property owner, I'm here to tell ya, it just isn't going to happen. The only people in danger of losing money are recent buyers.
Yes, I know that, being that I live in California and all. Property values recovered after the 89 and 94 earthquakes, and they will recover after any future earthquakes. I wish I didn't have the sense that certain people in this thread take an odd joy in predicting doom for the California real estate market, but as a property owner, I'm here to tell ya, it just isn't going to happen. The only people in danger of losing money are recent buyers.
I hope your values go up and up and up. I hope it ultimately makes millionaires out of all of you.
The point is, it is the proverbial - all your eggs in one basket. And this basket is such that the only way to recoup all this 'value' is to sell the basket. And in this case, it seems like the 'eggs' are more like tulips, if you get the reference.
The reason why so much commotion is made out of the value of your homes, if not here, then on the financial shows, is because it is a recognized 'bubble'. And bubbles always burst. It's a law of economics. There is nothing inherent in your property or homes themselves that make their value go up 50% in one year, or 100% in five years. And sooner or later, the market will recognize that. It always does. Our financial markets, of which your home prices are a part, is very inconsistent over short periods of time, but remarkably consistent over the long term.
No, prices won't drop so low that you'll 'lose out'. But when you plan a certain level of retirement, 30%-40% of the value of the ultimate equity in your RETIREMENT is not a small thing.
Unless you're lucky enough to sell at the 'top' of the market. And that fact, combined with the fact that unions require senority for real benefit, makes you much more likely to stay in place, thereby affecting your ultimate ability to capitalize on this 'bubble'.
That's all I was saying.
Personally, My house was reasonably priced and grows in value about 5% a year. And that makes me ecstatic. If my home suddenly went up 100% in value, I'd SELL! (and move to another community if the rising tides made all homes similarly unaffordable) Yes, it might go up another 100% in a few more years, or another 100% a few years thereafter, but if you try to time the top of a bubble, the problem with that is prices rarely come down as orderly as they go up.
NephroBSN, BSN, RN
530 Posts
ROFLMAO.. Not working on Sundays for a chronic hemodialysis nurse is an inside joke. Patients are dialyzed Mon Wed Fri or Tues Thurs Sat.
We never work on Sundays expect for when Christmas falls during the week and the week of Turkey day.
Sorry about the confusion.