Union input please

I'm in a hospital that has the nursing association as the RN union. The idea that a painters union should be trying to organize a union for nurses is pretty ludicrous to me. Nurses know what nurses need and can get these needs met better than any other type of union. I find it strange that the California nurses have joined forces with the Steelworkers Union; and I can't understand how all of a hospitals' employees (including RNs) could ever be under 1 Service Employees contract. At the same time, nurses are some of the hardest people to get together to form a cohesive group and that may be why these other unions are involved in organizing unions for us. I know that it is very hard to get nurses involved in making our own workplace decisions, and I myself am just as guilty of skipping "mandatory" meetings after having worked a 12 hour night and the meetings are scheduled for noon and 3PM! I've worked in non-union settings, non-RN union settings, and the RN union setting, and this is the best by far. But I also know that it takes a lot of effort to get everyone involved with the bargaining unit activities; and that is a problem that I don't know if there is an easy way to fix it.