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.
WHY don't you both face reality? No company wants to put anything away for you! Even IF you have a pension, a company could decide later that you're not going get squat!
I don't get this blue collar mentality some folks have about the company is gonna take care of them after they put in their 20 years. It ain't gonna happen.
If anybody needs to put money away for tomorrow, it is YOU, the RN.We are NOT blue collar people were professionals, and that means stop thinking like youre a factory worker living in the the 1970's!
The world doesn't owe you anything. Unions don't owe you anything. You need to realize that healthcare is a business. Everybody who is involved is making as much money off of it as they possibly can- doctors, hospitals, pharma, investors, insurance companies, etc. These people are making a buck off of nurses as well, because the work we do generates a lot of revenue and we are way undercompensated for it.
I think the Martyr Marys of this world should really put their money where there mouth is and volunteer or join the peace corps, if they really feel they shouldn't be compensated for what they do.
Let me also say this. Unions were great when industry was unregulated and there was no government protection for workers, so the workers united and yes, progress was made. Then the unions became corrupt and full of nepotism. Unions are also often not in sync politically with the views of their membership. I was a union member, and they sold us out. They had no teeth. We actually took a pay cut. Never got a lunch, either.
So, don't tell me that I don't know, because I do. I was in one. Their attitude was that the rank and file were too stupid to make their own decisions about wages and working conditions. And too stupid to survive on their own, without the union there to "look after" them.
Don't buy into it. You may think you want a union, but you don't. What you do want is to own your own business and have a relationship of equals with the business clients you've got. Unions are for employees. Being an employee is a nurses worst mistake.
I set my own terms and wages, and my boss is me. I am compensated well. I have a SEP-IRA that my company that I own matches my contributions to.
You want what I have. Stop missing out on this,
Again, you clearly don't know me. I don't rely on my employer for my retirement plan. I actually opt out of benefits. You shouldn't assume so much.
Secondly, I don't want to be my own employer. I like going to work and going home and being done with it. I make a good living doing it. I am not underpaid by any means. I'm one of the few nurses on this board that doesn't complain about her pay.
Thirdly, the union does owe me something. The world doesn't, but the union does. That's my dues money they get every month and I expect many things for that money. I get them too.
Finally, having worked in one bad union place doesn't make you the authority on all things union related. Just like the fact that I've worked in two crappy non-union places doesn't make me an authority on all things non-union. The world isn't black and white. There are going to be some nice union workplaces and some nice non-union workplaces, and bad places of each type. If you want to work only non-union, I don't care. If I want to work in union hospitals I don't think it affects you at all either. I make my decisions in life based on my knowledge and experiences just like you do. What's right for you isn't necessarily what's right for me.
If a union is doing it's job and taking care of it's members, it does not need to worry about union raids. It is the members that decide (through voting) who will represent them. There was much turmoil at my hospital about 5 years ago. It was created when another union "raided" the established union. The established union represented all the hospital workers. The new union came in on an RN only platform. Nurses voted to ratify the new RN only union. The established union had NOT been taking care of RN's due to competing needs from other workers. It was an RN that started the process and was not so much of a raid as it was a statement that RN's wanted our own voice...not one diluted by the majority non-licensed staff.
"Raiding", "decertifying", are terms that define dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs in terms of representation in a unionized environment.
Participation in the everyday activities of the union as an organization ensures that the voice of the members is heard. Not enough of us do that.
Elected leaders can be voted out without having to change the entire structure and start from the beginning. Chief negotiators and staff of any new organization at a workplace have to develop relationships and navigate the political minefield of the city/county/healthsystem.
It takes a while and a lot of work before the dust settles after a decertification. All that energy and effort could have been spent in restructuring the existing organization, but I guess some people feel more attracted to something new.
In the news article that started this thread, the RNs had an RN only voice, there was no dilution with non-licensed staff, and all they did is take a chance with a new organization with no experience outside California. Go figure!!
Very rude, dumb and fake people. I call it the dead face society. Most everyoine will not make eye contect, or even say hello, or excuse me.
Oh yes the ocean, and all of that is nice, but when that real estate market crumbles- ouch. Not to mention it's a lot like living in another country.
I'm sooooooo glad I left and moved to the midwest.
Looks like you have so much hatred in your heart. I've seen some of your posts with topics that had been closed in other threads.
Can I just ask something? Do you think-- the people you work with enjoy working with you?--- how's your relationship with people?--- and one more thing, do you speak for America or only for your own opinions and prejudiced remarks? What if everyone says---I don't want you here???
In the news article that started this thread, the RNs had an RN only voice, there was no dilution with non-licensed staff, and all they did is take a chance with a new organization with no experience outside California. Go figure!!
I just think it's crazy for RNs to undermine each other and the patient care team and then say it's because that's what's best for RNs. We should support each other in whatever endeavor we take on.
fergus51
6,620 Posts
Again, you clearly don't know me. I don't rely on my employer for my retirement plan. I actually opt out of benefits. You shouldn't assume so much.
Secondly, I don't want to be my own employer. I like going to work and going home and being done with it. I make a good living doing it. I am not underpaid by any means. I'm one of the few nurses on this board that doesn't complain about her pay.
Thirdly, the union does owe me something. The world doesn't, but the union does. That's my dues money they get every month and I expect many things for that money. I get them too.
Finally, having worked in one bad union place doesn't make you the authority on all things union related. Just like the fact that I've worked in two crappy non-union places doesn't make me an authority on all things non-union. The world isn't black and white. There are going to be some nice union workplaces and some nice non-union workplaces, and bad places of each type. If you want to work only non-union, I don't care. If I want to work in union hospitals I don't think it affects you at all either. I make my decisions in life based on my knowledge and experiences just like you do. What's right for you isn't necessarily what's right for me.