They laid off a lot of nurses now they want us back.

CrunchRN, ADN, RN · Jul 17, 2013

I would be interested to hear as I hadn't seen anything on this.

NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN · Jul 17, 2013

I think this is a load of :poop:! In my opinion, I believe it is next to impossible for a nurse with a valid license to get unemployment due to the many areas that a nurse can go into; whether those areas are hiring or not. Why play with people's lives like that? If I were (or was? still have trouble with that one...) a laid-off nurse, that would be considered a bridge burned as far as I'm concerned! If they did it once, they will do it again. Hopefully, those doing the lay-offs are in possession of some sort of skills or have a license lying around collecting dust. They are going to need them if they are waiting for me to come back.

azhiker96, BSN, RN · Jul 18, 2013

I have not heard of this but it would be a great way for a place to get rid of their top performers. If I were laid off I sure would not wait around hoping to be called back. I'd be beating the streets to find another job and would not return even if they offered a raise or bonus. Even if I were not laid off, I'd look for another employer. Who would want to work for someone who treats their employees that way? Are the examples of places that have done this recently?

DizzyLizzyNurse · Jul 18, 2013

That's happening where I work now except we're union so they have to give jobs to as many people as they can and offer a generous package to the people laid off. It also ends up being the newer people who get laid off.

joanna73, BSN, RN · Jul 18, 2013

In Canada, nurses have been (and are) being laid off by the dozens, in every Province off and on since 2007. In Nova Scotia a couple of years back, they laid off nurses only to rehire many of them the following year.

Canadian nurses are largely unionized so the people with the least seniority and casual staff are the first to go.

Not_A_Hat_Person, RN · Jul 18, 2013

Only with a very generous pay raise.

swansonplace · Jul 18, 2013

How can I find out about Union nursing positions? Which hospitals have it?

SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN · Jul 18, 2013

How can I find out about Union nursing positions? Which hospitals have it?

Good for you, Unions built the middle class; Right-To-Work States did not and never will! In fact, I moved out of the South because I was tired of being employed and struggling financially in a Right-To-Work State. To answer your question, look at State Labor Laws to find the right hospitals.

Many States in the South and Mid-West have terrible Labor Laws (Right-to-work), where you the employee do not have any rights to work, but the employer has all the rights to fire you for blinking wrong and not give you any kind of benefits or descent pay to care for yourself or your family. In fact, nurses are paid the WORSE in Right-To-Work States because those same States do not have many hospitals that have Unions (SURPRISE).

Sadly, historically unionized States in MI and WI are under attack at this time. Hopefully our blue-collar professional brothers and sisters in those States will be able to fight back and push back successfully. In the mean time, look at States in the West (CA and some others), East (NY), and HI for Labor Laws that support Unions.

Many (not all) hospitals in those States are unionized. However, Nurses working in non-union facilities and/or within non-union positions benefit from the unionized pay and other employee protections from the surrounding facilities because the non-union places need to compete with Unionized positions in order to attract the best candidates. Good Luck!

swansonplace · Jul 18, 2013

Thank you. I am a new nurse, and looking into options for hospitals. I am concerned about some of the stories I am hearing, and would like to protect myself and career.

chiromed0 · Jul 18, 2013

I fully disagree, it's more times than not the fault of unions that drive the cost of doing business so high that layoffs, shutdowns, cost increases and bankruptcies are inevitable. Case in point are all the public employees in California whose benefit costs exceed the salaries they were paid while working. I don't have any union brothers and sisters and wouldn't ever want any. There was a point in time when unions made sense but everything I see now days from unions is not good and closer to communism than I care to be.

It strikes me as odd that the union argument centers around not getting paid enough to do a job thereby preventing union employees from providing for their families. One of the things they'd like to provide is a better education for their kids who then, in turn, will have the opportunity to enter into management or ownership of businesses. Why do you want to send your kids to college? If they do go they will ironically be spat upon, cussed at and have their lives threatened when they show up during strikes to keep the businesses open so that union workers will have a job to go back to. Yes, I'm a little biased. Yes, I've seen first hand how union employees conduct themselves during strikes...I wouldn't want a single one back. It's disgusting the behavior they portray and then want the companies to treat them as valued employees afterwards.

I certainly think in the case of nursing hospitals make poor decisions financially but you can't have it both ways. You can't scream for a benefit bonanza for everyone, allow them to not pay fair market prices for services and then expect hospitals to be profitable. It simply won't happen and people will lose their jobs. Unionizing them solves nothing...making lousy employees and great ones get the same pay and protect their jobs won't make anyone happy. I don't know what the answer may end up being but I certainly know it's not unions.

SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN · Jul 18, 2013

Although Unions are not perfect (this country is FAR from the best when it comes to taking care of employees), States with the best Labor Laws and are Pro-Union are far better to work and live in then States that are not!

Right-To-Work States drive down the costs of business by driving down middle income wages. They allow employers to make HUGE profits off of the backs of average Americans. They are NOT building the middle-class by doing this because the cost of living is not driven down so much that the average wage earner in those areas cannot do anything, but work 2-3 jobs to survive. The only people that benefit in Right-To-Work slave States are those in the top 1% (Modern day Slave owners).

In fact, it is no surprise to me that Southern Nurses (they still live in the South so that is why I call them Southern) who travel to the Unionized States do so because of the better working conditions and pay! In addition, it is no surprise to me that the States with the highest poverty levels and that have the highest population on food stamps and Medicaid programs because they have the HIGHEST unemployment rates are in RED Right-To-Work States, (ironic since those States politically hate socialized anything yet they are in the greatest need and use socialized everything the most).

As far as Unions go, yes, people strike, but it is because we can exercise our right to do so and still have a job to return to afterwards. Average American workers cannot speak up or do anything to promote better working conditions or pay without the illegal activities of employers in Right-To-Work States to retaliate against the workers. Workers in those States fear losing his/her job. Personally, I have not experienced or feared losing my job for any stupid reason living in a Pro-Union State so I am biased too! I love Unions!

When I worked and lived in Right-To-Work States, I was surrounded by those who were afraid of Unions because of rumors and innuendos. None of them experienced anything but the terrible working conditions they had and they assumed that Unions were the same. They assume wrong!

First, they do not realize that when he/she signs HR papers for employment in Right-To-Work States he/she is signing employment contracts. The difference between the terrible employment contracts of employers in Right-To-Work States and our contracts is the fact that we had a SAY in ours. Right-To-Work States are full of employees that make decisions to either take a terrible job with dangerous working conditions or they can remain unemployed (or travel to a Pro-Union State).

Thus, Chiromed, you and those that think like you can disagree all you want. Go ahead and believe in your fears and the rumors and remain in your Right-To-Work areas. All I ask is that those of you that think as you do to keep your diseased Labor Laws confined to your area of the country. The rest of us who prefer and LOVE our Unions will fight hard to keep them!