Union dues and benefits

[melosa08, BSN]

My union consists of 33,000 union members, but only 27,000 in good standing. Earlier this year, we went through (controversial) bylaws vote that included a dues restructure. The dues restructure involves gradually raising the cap until 2027. In 2027, the cap will be phased out and it will be the full 1.8%. Our current cap is $90/month. Starting this fall, our dues cap will go from $90 to $115/month. 2025 cap will go from $115 to $140/month. 2026, cap will go from $140 to $160/month. 2027, cap will be eliminated and it will be the full 1.8%.

My dues is estimated to be about $180+/month in 2027. It'll increase with every raise. Nurses at the top end of the payscale with years of experience, their dues will be about $230+/month. My union represents ALL occupations within the hospital dietary, evs, nurse, techs, radiology, pharmacy, etc. Pharmacist at the top end of the scale, their dues is estimated to be about $350+/month.

I'm frustrated with my union due to the lack of transparency and poor communication from the union. Even after the vote, things to me have not change. We had town halls with the Executive Board of our union to voice our frustrations. My union doesn't hold regular general membership meetings for us to get information about what is happening within our union and to voice our opinions.

I'm trying to think, with the increase in dues, do our benefits match what we will be paying in dues? They stopped the pension plan about 18 years ago. Hires after that are offered 401k with 5% employer contribution. If you make less than $60,000/yr medical PPO premium is free. Otherwise, we pay the premium for medical, dental, and vision. No employee discount for cafeteria. Parking is $17/day. Tuition assistance available. We do get a discounted transit card. I don't take public transit to work cuz I take a lot of call, so I drive to work cuz I need reliable transportation. Also, sometimes I get stuck in a case due to staffing or an emergency on my non-call workdays, so I need a way home when it's late. I do like that we have 10 hour guaranteed rest period for those who take call where after getting called in, work cannot call you back in until 10 hours later if they still need you for the day. 

My question to you all that are in a union, what are your monthly dues and what benefits are you guys receiving? Is our new dues structure reasonable for what we are receiving in benefits? This is my first union hospital.  We are in a HCOL. My old hospital back home was non-union and I didn't realize how used and abused we were. I enjoy the protection of being at a union hospital. But, I'm just particularly frustrated with this union. I'm planning on moving next Summer out of state to a hospital with better pay, strong union, reasonable dues, and better housing options.

 

 

[Nurse2bMcLeod32]

Our union dues are a % of our take home pay. Right now it's about $130/month for me and goes up as we get paid more. What do we get? I'm not the most informed, and I don't know what I don't know, but we get half a sandwich about every 4-6 months when they have leftovers from a meeting or are trying to promote something, and we also get regular pre-determined pay raises. Those are the most obvious benefits. I guess if you are treated poorly/retaliated against/threatened/harassed, then they can help back you up and also help with job security. I really wonder how big their bank account is with all the nurses and all the dues LOL. I wish they would disclose the amount of money they have and what it is going towards.