I will be starting my first nursing job in a few weeks. My small community hospital just came through very contentious negotiations and now have a union. There are still a lot of strong feelings on both sides. Objectively, the union brought in a significant (and much needed) pay raise for the nurses but lost some benefits too. Many of the nurses that were not for the union originally concede that the union has done a lot of good. My dilemma is, I am unsure. One issue is that I am not sure I could support (for religious reasons) a strike unless it is for a clear safety issue. From personal experience, my husband's union became involved in many questionable (to us) political causes unrelated to his profession that eventually caused him to choose to "opt-out" . While my hospital does not have a "closed shop" I absolutely would voluntarily pay fair-share because all the nursing staff benefits from union victories. To those of you with more experience, how important is union solidarity in today's nursing environment? Would waiting to join until I am sure be perceived as non-supportive? I welcome your thoughts.