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.
Well Ken if your wife doesn't want to join the union, maybe she will have to move on. So far I haven't been able to see any "floor nurses" able to negotiate thier wages or retirement benefits. Management has full retiree health benefits, often after a few years of working there, but a "floor nurse" who has busted her hump and spent most of her adult working life in a hospital does not have that. That is what a union is needed for. When you show me how YOU have "negotiated" retiree health benefits for yourself and your wife at a hospital without a union, let me know so I can join you there. If the majority of nurses at a hospital do not want a union it is up to them to vote no at contract time and not stick their heads in the sand and say, "I didn't vote for the union, so I don't want to pay". A non-vote is a yes vote for the union. A no vote is a no vote.
Well, to be perfectly blunt she and many others voted against the union the final tally was ~350 to ~250 out of just over 700 that were eligble to vote. The union press release was an example of the propaganda that so irks me
"CVHP nurses vote to join CNA in landslide victory" That is a landslide?
News to me. As far as negoiating wages and retirement benefits, well when you are interviewing, (yes you interview the facility as much as they interview you), you either accept what they have to offer, or you do not. It is that simple. If you think you can do better elsewhere, tell them so, thank them for their time, or tell them what your bottom line.
I have turned down many jobs that I felt didnt pay or had the benefits that I deserved. If they have a counter-offer, have them put it in writing, if they want your skills and talents, they will. It is the beauty of a free market society. I am worth more than you are willing to pay, so I will go elsewhere. Thank you.
If you are unable or unwilling to do that, well then that is on you isn't it?
Well, I should be able to "opt out" of a government I did not vote for, but it does not work that way. My only choice if I am unhappy is to leave the country.
Ahh yes, wonderful strawman argument.
Having spent your whole life in the country, or whatever portion of it you have spent here, that is the way the system was and has been. Period. You knew from the time that you were 18 or whenever you came here, what the politcal system was and how it worked. You didnt come here expecting one thing, only to have a group of people tell you how much "better" you would be if you let them think for you, but you have to change the system.
to top all that off, Don't let the door hit you in ass on the way out. You want socialism, go to Canada, the UK, France etc...they should be more to your liking.
The CNA came in and started spewing their crap, and now her work environment is going to change because of it, after she accepted the position.
Hopefully the contract negotions get mired in all the BS, and she will never have to pay the dues or leave...*crosses fingers*.
But, to be perfectly honest, she shouldn't have to make the choice, as she was there before the union...
Sounds to me like the CNA does give your wife the option of opting out of certain parts of their representation if she does not agree with the philosophy. That's a heck of a lot more you would get from your elected official or any other organization... Representation without taxation...
The fact of the matter is that she (we) are doing quite well without the union. The leftist (you know Demoncratic) philosophy that they support undermines, IMO, what a free market, capitalist society should be. My wife will leave before she takes part in the union and pays a single penny to their coffers. Tis a shame too, she liked the job, for the most part. But we have discussed it, and we have savings (funny, we able to accumulate wealth just fine without the union) and we can survive quite well if she doesn't work for the better part of a year. But now, that she is an experienced BSN, she can pretty much name her terms.
The CNA is coming to TEXAS! YAHOOO!!!!! I hope they come to DFW first and take on that nasty Group One, my sworn arch enemy! They have unfairly blacklisted so many good nurse and healthcare workers in the area it's a dang shame!
Have fun with that, I hope your merit takes you far with the union in place. Seeing how everyone gets a raise, or no one does, and that if a person has worked there a day longer than you, they have seniority...even if you work circles around them. Good luck getting rid of the lazy, callous and non productive nurses as well...I was in the Army for the last 14 years and have worked in DOD facilities a great deal, and it was an absolute pain in the ass to get rid of folks because of the union,
Unions frighten me because I hate the idea of giving someone else the power of my vote. I think we are more effective, and certainly more professional, if we work through our professional organizations. As for CA- they may have mandated nurse:patient ratios but the hospitals are paying huge amounts of money to get nurses to work there. It is an "us versus them" atmosphere and nobody wins in those cases. The focus is clearly NOT on the patient. I think nurses forget that to be paid the company has to earn money. Anyway, a union cannot guarantee you a raise or anything else. They can only "negotiate". Heck! I can do that without paying dues!
Well the laws against child labor, safety, even the requirement for employers to provide bathrooms and fresh air, the 8 hour day, and much we take for granted are part of the laws of this great country. They were brought about by unions. No one under seventy was born when these came about. Unions were a fact just like taxes and just as democratic.
Sometimes we like the results of a democratic election. Other times we don't.
I would have quit and gone to another job if my colleagues had voted against CNA when we had our election years ago.
Well the laws against child labor, safety, even the requirement for employers to provide bathrooms and fresh air, the 8 hour day, and much we take for granted are part of the laws of this great country. They were brought about by unions. No one under seventy was born when these came about. Unions were a fact just like taxes and just as democratic.
Sometimes we like the results of a democratic election. Other times we don't.
I would have quit and gone to another job if my colleagues had voted against CNA when we had our election years ago.
Well good for you, I think that she will do the same, we may possibly move out of state... I think that I will attempt to organize others to do the same, increase the shortage in California a bit more, see how that works out for all the wonderful things that the CNA is accomplishing.
I notice that they didnt quote anyone that didnt say "great things" about the CNA though...gotta love propaganda !
Tell that to the non-union auto-workers and mine workers that make a bundle less than their union counterparts. Tell that to non-union nurses that can be fired on a whim (plenty of posts on this).
Tell that to the non-union auto-workers and mine workers that make a bundle less than their union counterparts. Tell that to non-union nurses that can be fired on a whim (plenty of posts on this).
That essay was originally published in 1963. :rotfl:
Oh I didn't quit because CNA won. I would have wimped out and leaft if we who worked for the union had lost.
I would have been a wimp to leave because RNs were being replaced with untrained unlicensed paople who never wanted to care for patients. Night shift it was not uncommon for one RN to have more than 20 patients!
The advocacy of union nurses prevented suffering and deaths. We would have been fired for doing the right thing if not for the "just cause" clause in our contract.
Staffing and patient care standards are higher than ever. Since caring has become an industry the profession needs a way to truly focus on patient care rather than the budget.
I am very glad that with the legislative victories of the CNA and our contract we actually have time to care for our patients.
So, with even more legislative mandates it is even more pertinent today.
Oh I didn't quit because CNA won. I would have wimped out and leaft if we who worked for the union had lost.
I would have been a wimp to leave because RNs were being replaced with untrained unlicensed paople who never wanted to care for patients. Night shift it was not uncommon for one RN to have more than 20 patients!
Ah Yes...
The CNA is the organization that lobbied for the vastly decreased scope of practice for LVNs, no?....Which of course, made them pointless to hire, which made RNs that much more costly, and CNAs cheap...and exacerbated the shortage....no?
The advocacy of union nurses prevented suffering and deaths. We would have been fired for doing the right thing if not for the "just cause" clause in our contract.
People were just randomly fired all the time for doing the "right thing". I am sure of it
Staffing and patient care standards are higher than ever. Since caring has become an industry the profession needs a way to truly focus on patient care rather than the budget.
I am very glad that with the legislative victories of the CNA and our contract we actually have time to care for our patients.
As more and more hospitals close beds or doors, because of the Ratio laws (great in theory) I hope that you continue to be glad. As small communities lose their hospitals, or neighborhoods lose their ED, I hope that you remain glad. The hospitals that stay open are going to continue to suck taxpayers dry in OT and waste (King/Drew anyone they may finally close that money pit). Be glad.
Tell that to the non-union auto-workers and mine workers that make a bundle less than their union counterparts. Tell that to non-union nurses that can be fired on a whim (plenty of posts on this).
You mean the non union auto plants that arent closing and workers get to keep their jobs? And the mines in KY, W VA that arent closing or trying to recruit outside labor to increase productivity?
You know, I was in the military, so I can't say that I felt that I was ever going to get "fired on a whim". but even with the civilian jobs that I have had, and I have been a "worker bee" and management, I can not recall any instance of an individual being "fired on a whim".
I have seen and fired people after repeated counselings for poor job performance, med errors, excessive tardiness, absences etc...but never just went in and said, "you know, I don't like you, you are fired." And all my jobs have been "at will" employers.
I would like for someone to cite some examples of folks being fired on a whim.
Did you even read the essay you are so heartily laughing at. Even in '63 he said that the 8 hour work day was passed before unions had a lot of strength... yet you are still perpetuating that myth...
AH yes here is another thing to thank the CNA for..
LOS ANGELES-California hospitals are scrambling to meet a new court order to have one nurse for every five patients around the clock-and officials say most are failing to reach the goal.
Some hospitals have tried to close the gap by hiring nurses from registry services and having staffers work more hours.
"Our Band-Aid, if you will, or solution today is contract labor and overtime," said Carol Bradley, chief nursing officer for the Tenet California chain.
Other options-though few hospitals will acknowledge using them-are reducing the number of patients in medical and surgical wards by closing beds or keeping people longer in the emergency room.
"Closures of beds and increased diversions and increased wait times are becoming common again," said Jan Emerson, a spokeswoman for the California Hospital Association.
I still don't understand why anyone who hates unions this much would move to California. It's well known that any hospital can go union at any time since this is a pro-union state. It's actually unusual for a majority of RN's to vote against the union. Yet ... you chose to recently move here. Why?
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Those hospitals had a PLENTY of notice and time to comply and they chose not to until the 11th hour had come and gone---hoping I am sure, the Gov. could put a stop to the new ratio laws. SHAME ON THEM----they had to take these desperate actions resistance to comply with LAWFUL ratios. I feel for patients inconvenienced by this---but not these hospitals/administrators caught up here.
And I agree; why live in a very pro-union state at all? The majority voted it in----you either live with that or you move on. It's really as cut and dried as that.
NurseKevin
140 Posts
Well, to be perfectly blunt she and many others voted against the union the final tally was ~350 to ~250 out of just over 700 that were eligble to vote. The union press release was an example of the propaganda that so irks me
"CVHP nurses vote to join CNA in landslide victory" That is a landslide?
News to me. As far as negoiating wages and retirement benefits, well when you are interviewing, (yes you interview the facility as much as they interview you), you either accept what they have to offer, or you do not. It is that simple. If you think you can do better elsewhere, tell them so, thank them for their time, or tell them what your bottom line.
I have turned down many jobs that I felt didnt pay or had the benefits that I deserved. If they have a counter-offer, have them put it in writing, if they want your skills and talents, they will. It is the beauty of a free market society. I am worth more than you are willing to pay, so I will go elsewhere. Thank you.
If you are unable or unwilling to do that, well then that is on you isn't it?
Ahh yes, wonderful strawman argument.
Having spent your whole life in the country, or whatever portion of it you have spent here, that is the way the system was and has been. Period. You knew from the time that you were 18 or whenever you came here, what the politcal system was and how it worked. You didnt come here expecting one thing, only to have a group of people tell you how much "better" you would be if you let them think for you, but you have to change the system.
to top all that off, Don't let the door hit you in ass on the way out. You want socialism, go to Canada, the UK, France etc...they should be more to your liking.
The CNA came in and started spewing their crap, and now her work environment is going to change because of it, after she accepted the position.
Hopefully the contract negotions get mired in all the BS, and she will never have to pay the dues or leave...*crosses fingers*.
But, to be perfectly honest, she shouldn't have to make the choice, as she was there before the union...
The fact of the matter is that she (we) are doing quite well without the union. The leftist (you know Demoncratic) philosophy that they support undermines, IMO, what a free market, capitalist society should be. My wife will leave before she takes part in the union and pays a single penny to their coffers. Tis a shame too, she liked the job, for the most part. But we have discussed it, and we have savings (funny, we able to accumulate wealth just fine without the union) and we can survive quite well if she doesn't work for the better part of a year. But now, that she is an experienced BSN, she can pretty much name her terms.
Have fun with that, I hope your merit takes you far with the union in place. Seeing how everyone gets a raise, or no one does, and that if a person has worked there a day longer than you, they have seniority...even if you work circles around them. Good luck getting rid of the lazy, callous and non productive nurses as well...I was in the Army for the last 14 years and have worked in DOD facilities a great deal, and it was an absolute pain in the ass to get rid of folks because of the union,