Anyone Staffed Strikes?

pickledpepperRN · Oct 12, 2000

Originally posted by nurseyperson:
Again I ask, (no one has come up with a good answer) Who takes care of the patients in the hospital during a strike? I really don't know, if it isn't for scabs. Who? Can your conscious really let you abandon those patients?
If the strike were in my area and/or my hospital, NO, I would not cross the picket line if I knew there would be experienced nurses to take care of MY patients. And all the patients in my unit are MY patients. But in a totally different part of the United States, Yes, I would, because I would be one of the experienced nurses that they can depend on.
And as I said, I have heard many negative things about strikes, that they don't actually support you on the things that you really want and need. I, for one, would not want to be told that I HAD to strike, make virtually no money and get what the union decides to settle for.

First look up djburke.com

Union Busters who charge millions.

I have not been on strike myself but would if the staffing, lack of equipment were killing MY PATIENTS while Tenet, Columbia, or the management at my hospital were getting rich on the blood money.

I was with friends on their picket line. The nurses had assisted the transport of the patients to other hospitals.Critical care RNs worked alongside managers caring for those too sick for transport. (But they would transport them for insurance reasons). While on the picket line a man drove up with a woman in a late stage of labor. A L&D nurse took them to the floor, assisted with the delivery, gave report to her manager and returned to the picket line.

This was a one day strike, but the hospital locked the nurses out for FIVE days while they used the US Nursing workers to bring the patients back and admit more. This cost the hospital a LOT of money.

If you want the excitement of travel why not use one of the reputable travel agencies. Travel nurses are a great asset. Many come on staff. Others love to travel.

I have to say I would NEVER cross a nurses picket line. I would volunteer first! (Yes, I do volunteer my time and give my blood).

Oh, the union does NOT tell you to go on strike. There is an election requiring either 60% or 2/3 of the nurses voting to strike.My memory is unclear on this) In one strike many nurses in a specialty area promised to work with the blessing of the other nurses (Therefore the union)

Are there any unsafe situations where you would know you had to quit or strike? If not can you just give fragmented, incomplete care day after day? Is it better to quit? What happens to patients when we all get to that point?

My opinion is that the most greedy hospital wants to break the spirit of those who advocate for better care. Why else would they say it is impossible to staff adequately then hire strikebreakers at $5,000.00 a week each? To get the active advocates replaced with those they think are like them (I don't think you are like this)heartless, uncaring, in denial that what happens to patients could happen to THEM, or just in it for the money.

Do you really think nurses strike just for money?

[This message has been edited by spacenurse (edited October 12, 2000).]

pickledpepperRN · Oct 12, 2000

Originally posted by nurseyperson:
I used the wrong word, excitement. No, I don't think crossing the picket line is exciting. But going to different parts of the country and seeing new things, that is, and if you have never travelled, you have no idea.
Everyone has their right to their opinion. But tell me something. What are strikes for, if not (in part) to better your pay, benefits, working conditions? Is that not selfish and greedy? And who in the world do you expect to take care of the poor patients that are unfortunate enough to be in the hospital at the time of the strike? Managers who haven't done bedside nursing for years? Administration? HA HA! What if the patient was your family? Wouldn't you want experienced nurses taking care of them? Or do you say, "too bad, we are on strike for more money, you don't have anyone to take care of you. You shouldn't have had a heart attack now." HA!
I do what nurses are supposed to do. Take care of patients. And the hospital will have to pay big time for that to the nurses and the staffing companies. And the more they have to pay, the sooner they will want to settle. We take care of the patients so you can do what you think you need to. I personally wouldn't want a union telling me when to strike or what to do. You are simply under their control, and I have heard plenty of stories about the union not backing what nurses Really want.
If some of you would rather work at Walmart or wash dishes, that is fine. You must not be the breadwinner in the family.
And what about crossing picket lines? Are you saying it would be dangerous? Then you are saying you are violent!!!!!! What a nurse. As angry as you all sound, I wouldn't want yout taking care of me in the first place!!!!

Do you never get angry when you have to choose which important patient needs you must ignore? Do you not know that kind, gentle nurses are human enough to get angry?

The Hospital has TEN DAYS to take the nurses concerns seriously. For instance they can actually negotiate in good faith even on staffing language.(In California most strike notices do not end in strikes. Due to the new strikebreaking companies they can result in nurses who held a vote deciding not to strike, or got management talking thus averting the need to strike being locked out so the contracted scabs can work!) If not it is the hospitals responsibility to transfer the patients and postpone elective procedures.

Is it GREED to want enough staff to care for your patients?

Is it GREED to think a Hospital should not be allowed to retaliate against a nurse who reports abuse?

Is it GREED to want management to pay attention to the knowledge of nurses?

Is it GREED to be aware that an RN knows better how many patients are safe than a non nurse manager?

Is it GREED to insist on enough gloves & gowns etc. to protect our patients and our own lives from infections?

Is it GREED to want to pick up your children instead of doing mandatory overtime? To want some family time?

Is it GREED that makes a nurse volunteer for better patient care?

Well then I am greedy!

I am so greedy I will attend the MNM on my own time and pay my own expenses!

[This message has been edited by spacenurse (edited October 12, 2000).]

pickledpepperRN · Oct 12, 2000

Originally posted by INC:
Give Jeff a call at Fastaff. They have a strike that has been going since Dec. 21st 1999 and no end in sight. We worked it for 5 1/2 months and enjoyed it and the money. Thay also have other strikes coming up.

Well I looked up your bio. Not surprised that you own a business, not care for patients. "Enjoyed a strike"

I pray for such people.

pickledpepperRN · Oct 13, 2000

Well have we exausted this one?

nurseyperson · Oct 15, 2000

Sorry, this one will probably never be exhausted. Unfortunately, there will probably always be stikes, be it because of poor working conditions, low wages, etc. All the

negative responses from the strike supporters has a definate truth. I never said I didn't think people should strike. Unfortunately, spacenurse, you pick out what you want out of the postings and ignore the things I have said that support you and those that have gone on strike. I have simply said that I would work as a strike breaker to help the patients in the hospital. At the beginning of the discussion, someone got very angry and called me a "selfish greedy SCAB". That is where the greedy part came from. I believe some hospitals have substandard working conditions, etc. I am sorry for the nurses who have to work in those conditions, be if for them or the patients, or both. I have never, however, heard of a strike exclusively for working conditions and patient welfare. There is always that increased pay thing involved. That is OK. If you are not being paid enough, do something about it. But don't call me greedy because

I will take care of your patients for you at a great salary. You have the right to strike, and I have the right to work. Of course we have all been angry at the world of nursing,

it takes your life and soul at times, everyone can tell you how to do things, what to do, when., where, with no thought of what is right for the patient. We are always treated like the bottom of the barrel. So I support your right to strike. And I support my right to take care of the patients. And yes, I was a travelling nurse for a few years. Loved it. Don't want to do it with a first grader. So you can continue to post, and so will I, this discussion will never be closed. Because there are two sides, and lots of patients that need us.

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nurseyperson

pickledpepperRN · Oct 19, 2000

I've only known one strikebreaker. This nurse worked registry when I was charge. Acceptable but flat affect with patients. Walked out of the room after the patient on a ventilator wrote, "I am so scared!" with the comment,"Don't worry, we'll take care of you." this nurse than sat down with a cup of coffee. This nurse also paid cash to buy a frightened elderly couples home for 10% its value when they wanted out after the 1992 riots. Now of course the value is 10X or more what was paid. How did that couple do. I bet they could not afford a new home. That is not the attitude I want my loved ones nurse to have.

You seem to me like someone who truly cares for patients. The problem is that the same management that makes profit more important than people will refuse to staff safely yet will lock out RNs for five days who gave a ten day notice for a one day strike. This management could have prevented the strike by agreeing to negotiate for safe staffing.

US nursing and other companies are not in business to care for patients, they are in it for profit only. Legal just like taking those old folks home for less than an average nurse earns in a year. About seven weeks of crossing the picket line pays what that nurse paid for the house.

Sorry if I sound angry. We are working against the kind of greed that places profit over all else. I think that is wrong. Please dont use this to say I don't want nurses to be paid well, for our children to starve, or go without shoes. I am a parent too.

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pickledpepperRN · Oct 19, 2000

PS NURSEYPERSON:

Your posts sound angry too. I don't think that means you can't take good care of me. We learned to put our concerns aside and do what is best for the patient.

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tponthroad · Nov 10, 2000

I don't see why stiking nurses are offended by temporary staff. The fact remains that the patients are still there & needing care. The temp staff is not there to take your job but to care for the patients and make the hospital pay out he nose for it. you could say the temps are supporting your cause.

fergus51 · Nov 11, 2000

I don't think temporary staff is even needed when enough notice is given. When doctors up here withdrew their services (apparently 250,000$ a year isn't a liveable wage anymore) they moved their patients to other towns. I really don't think that hospitals ALWAYS need replacement workers. They wind up spending more money on the replacement workers than they would have if they met the nurses' demands.

Charles S. Smith, RN, MS · Nov 11, 2000

Well, you certainly have opened up Pandora's Box here. So, I might as well add my penny's worth of commentary.

There are obviously strong emotions posted here on the board. There are some good insights too. I want to add a few insights.

Unlike some of the posts, I believe that nurses are economic beings just as any other worker in any other field and are owed compensation commensurate with our skills and abilities. Health care is business now and market forces are at play to decide who participates in the system and who does not. Nurses are part of the system, yet we are not routinely part of the overall discussions except as a line item on a hospital budget. We are considered LABOR by hospitals, insurance companies and the public at large. We are paid an hourly wage for services and are at the mercy of our employers, so the reality of nurses as labor continues. And we perpetuate the labor mentality by allowing non-nursing unions to represent groups of nurses at the bargaining table. I am not a fan of unionization to begin with, but the most egregious form of usurpation of individual and collective automony stems from non-nursing labor bargaining for nurses. So, my first thought for you is: "why do you need to be employed by anyone?" Nurses do not have to be employed by hospitals or agencies or strike agencies to earn income. I have spent my whole nursing career moving toward the day when I could practice independently and have done so. You can too. I have done this by embracing the system (rather than railing against it) and capitalizing on the market forces at play in our economy today. I have a service to render and I render it to those who meet MY fair market price.

My second insight for you is about the nature of agencies that handle strikes. There is a market for nurses to cross picket lines. Our market economy allows for anyone to fill a niche and make a profit. Strike agencies do that quite well...make a profit. They may pay well, but your hourly rate is the tip of the iceberg. The hospitals are more than willing to tap into their contingency funds/emergency funds (any hospital that is unionized has these funds available) to pay for nurses to come in and keep the doors open. As long as the doors are open, surgery continues uninterrupted and patients are taken care of, the public really turns a blind eye to HOW it gets done. The hospital continues to bill and receive reimbursement for services rendered and it is business almost as usual. Strike agencies are aware of this phenomenon and indeed, capitalize on it. Recruiters in strike agencies may be paid "a share of the profits" after a strike is settled, so there is economic incentive for them to get as many nurses out there as possible to increase billing for the agency, regardless of the calibre of nurse recruited. Be careful of recruiters and careful of strike agencies that promise you the moon. There is a hidden agenda usually.

Be careful too, of the type of strike you work, if you choose to do so. There are some very militant and hostile groups out there, especially if traditional blue collar strikers participate. There are some horror stories to be told of injuries, threats, overturned vehicles, etc. Carefully research your intended strike.

Next, realize that you will be working side by side with nurses for whom you have no experience regarding skills and expertise. Just because you are a safe, expert practitioner does not mean that the nurse beside you is. Protect yourself and your license. Your ability to produce nursing work is contingent upon an unsullied license to practice as a Registered Nurse. Any negative consequence in one state ultimately affects you in others. There will be many unfamiliar names on patient records. If one of them makes a fatal mistake, your care will also be called into question if your name is on that record.

Finally, be true to your own convictions. You must do what is right for you, practice wise and economically. You have the right to work whenever and where ever you choose. Exercise that right, but know the consequences. A well calculated and well thought out plan will serve you far better in the long run than a spur of the moment decision to earn an extra income.

If you wish to talk about this indepth, email me directly.

Best regards

KyRNBSN · Mar 13, 2001

For those of you interested,

There is soon to be a strike in Connecticut.

You will need to apply for a temp Connecticut license and have things like MMR titre's and PPD, physicians statement and more ready as well as fill out an application and get it all submitted very quickly. There is also rumor of another strike somewhere in California starting May 1

Call FastStaff if you are interested or visit their website http://www.fastaff.com

Brownms46 · Mar 15, 2001

Originally posted by Charles S. Smith, RN, MS:
. There will be many unfamiliar names on patient records. If one of them makes a fatal mistake, your care will also be called into question if your name is on that record.

Finally, be true to your own convictions. You must do what is right for you, practice wise and economically. You have the right to work whenever and where ever you choose. Exercise that right, but know the consequences. A well calculated and well thought out plan will serve you far better in the long run than a spur of the moment decision to earn an extra income.

If you wish to talk about this indepth, email me directly.

Best regards

Charles ...YOU're good! Excellent points made!

Gloria