Raising Their Wages......

Sheri257 · Jun 27, 2006

And Lizz, I take YOUR point. I would agree that some places and areas NEED unions. I would not hesitate to become a member if I felt my well-being and the well-being of my pts would be benefitted by it.
But, there is a difference between saying that unions are SOMETIMES beneficial and saying that they are ALWAYS beneficial. I see lots of posting in this TEXAS forum about unions by nurses in other states trying to ramp up publicity for unions in Texas because of the belief that unionizing all nurses is a great thing.
I tend to rail against that and that can sometimes come across as a general smear of unions. I will say for the record: unions have their place. BUT, that place isn't EVERYWHERE.
And I feel blessed to work for a place that I think unions aren't necessary. I'm well compensated, I have a 503b plan AND a regular retirement plan. We have excellent ratios. AND, I live where I want to be. IN MY CASE, a union would spoil a good thing. I do not extend that to everyone, everywhere.
~faith,
Timothy.

Yeah, I agree ... I guess we all have a tendency to overgeneralize. And I also think that unions have a tendency to oversell also.

The problem with unions going into Texas or Arizona, IMHO, is that the unions are building up expectations which, quite frankly, is stupid because it can easily lead to disappointment.

Typically you're not going to get a lot out of a first contract unless the RN's are really unified. And, more typically, where unions really deliver is when they've been around for years and negotiated concessions over a series of contracts.

Even if you do win an election, you're still going to have a lot of opposition in Texas or Arizona ... and then you're probably not going to get a great first contract, which is what we saw at Scripps Encinitas. A lot of RN's crossed the picket line and that certainly weakened the union's negotiating power. I could easily see this happening in Texas or Arizona.

Then, everybody is disappointed. Especially if you're overselling the potential results to begin with. Getting significant results usually takes years, and the unions should probably be more up front about that.

So yeah ... I do see a problem here.

:typing