Union-yes or no

[RNBSN08]

Hello,

I am working at a hospital which trying to become union. I am a pool RN and am wondering how this will affect nurses as a whole in my hospital if union were to get voted in and am looking for any input from pool/per Diem RN’s and effects on them specifically. Thank you so much for your input!!

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

Hello RNBSN08 and welcome.

We moved your topic to the Collective Bargaining / Union forum for the best response.

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

Unions are great. Union nurses make more money, including the per diems. Unions protect nurses from abuse by management, and help to negotiate fair and safe policies.

It's tense during the transition because management will come down hard trying to keep the union from taking hold, but once the union is established your pay and working conditions will definitely improve.

Unless you live in a state where people can opt out of paying dues to the union (I think that's called "right to work" by anti union people). Not sure that unions really can do much if people can opt out of paying dues. Dues are nothing compared to what you get from having a union BTW.

[RNBSN08]

Thank you for your input!!

[Rionoir, ADN, RN]

On 6/22/2019 at 8:27 PM, FolksBtrippin said:

I think that's called "right to work" by anti union people

It's called right to work because you have a right to work anywhere you want without having your money forcibly taken by a non-government entity who also happens to give a large portion of it to politicians you may or may not agree with. I'm not going to debate the good vs bad of unions, but no one has a right to claim my money just because another group of people working at the same company, or some people 50 years ago who worked at the company, voted for it.

I live in a right to work state, and healthcare is flourishing. There are several major healthcare organizations, finding a job with good pay and benefits is simple, the facilities are beautiful and constantly being updated and expanded. I'm still an extern so I can only relay discussions that I've had with other nurses, but I've done clinicals at many hospitals and spoken with many nurses and the case loads always seem fair, the work environments are great, there's plenty of jobs... ?‍♂️ I've been working at my current hospital a pretty limited amount of time, but all through orientation and my training on the floor and interactions with people throughout the hospital, I absolutely love the environment there.

I'd be curious to compare job prospects in states that have unions vs non-union states. Yes, union jobs are usually good jobs if you can get them, at least in terms of your paycheck. However, when employers have to pay premium union salaries and benefits and all the other bells and whistles, jobs suddenly start going away, they are harder to get, they are much more hesitant to hire new people... the list goes on. It's not all sunshine and roses. Plus diverting that much money directly to staffing takes away money from other areas. Hospitals will expand more slowly, they will update their facilities more slowly... there is a definite trade-off.

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

57 minutes ago, Rionoir said:

It's called right to work because you have a right to work anywhere you want without having your money forcibly taken by a non-government entity who also happens to give a large portion of it to politicians you may or may not agree with. I'm not going to debate the good vs bad of unions, but no one has a right to claim my money just because another group of people working at the same company, or some people 50 years ago who worked at the company, voted for it.

I live in a right to work state, and healthcare is flourishing. There are several major healthcare organizations, finding a job with good pay and benefits is simple, the facilities are beautiful and constantly being updated and expanded. I'm still an extern so I can only relay discussions that I've had with other nurses, but I've done clinicals at many hospitals and spoken with many nurses and the case loads always seem fair, the work environments are great, there's plenty of jobs... ?‍♂️ I've been working at my current hospital a pretty limited amount of time, but all through orientation and my training on the floor and interactions with people throughout the hospital, I absolutely love the environment there.

I'd be curious to compare job prospects in states that have unions vs non-union states. Yes, union jobs are usually good jobs if you can get them, at least in terms of your paycheck. However, when employers have to pay premium union salaries and benefits and all the other bells and whistles, jobs suddenly start going away, they are harder to get, they are much more hesitant to hire new people... the list goes on. It's not all sunshine and roses. Plus diverting that much money directly to staffing takes away money from other areas. Hospitals will expand more slowly, they will update their facilities more slowly... there is a definite trade-off.

Baseless claims.

[Rionoir, ADN, RN]

1 hour ago, FolksBtrippin said:

Baseless claims.

Which part? LoL The part about having multiple major health chains? Not baseless. Easy to get a job? Not baseless. Good pay and low cost of living? Do you even have google?

[Wuzzie]

13 minutes ago, Rionoir said:

Which part? 

Everything except your description of the area you live in. I can’t speak to that because I don’t know where you are. Having worked more than 30 years in both private and public institutions with unions and without I can very much attest to the fact that pay, benefits, working conditions and protection from management shenanigans is worth the $60 a month I pay to belong to the union. What’s more because our salaries are higher nursing staff at competing medical systems in the same city enjoy higher salaries as evidenced by the fact that every time our contract is successfully negotiated competing hospitals offer “ market adjustments” to their staff.

[Rionoir, ADN, RN]

When you have a competitive market those things take care of themselves. Like I said we have plenty of jobs and everyone wants to lure in good RNs.. there’s no need for a union, it would likely stifle the growth. With Foxconn starting to move in, three of the healthcare groups are talking of opening new hospitals.

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

59 minutes ago, Rionoir said:

Which part? LoL The part about having multiple major health chains? Not baseless. Easy to get a job? Not baseless. Good pay and low cost of living? Do you even have google?

You make a lot of claims but mostly they can be boiled down to these 3:

1. When employers have to hire union, jobs go away.

FALSE.

2. Unions stifle growth.

FALSE.

3. Hospitals with unions dont update equipment.

Absurdly false. Because the exact opposite is true. When nurses have a say in what goes on in the hospital, we get better equipment.

[Rionoir, ADN, RN]

And like I said, we don’t need unions for any of that.

Furthermore, whether or not you like unions, it’s completely absurd to think they should have the right to take your money by force simply because you work somewhere. No one has that right.

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

1 hour ago, Rionoir said:

And like I said, we don’t need unions for any of that.

Furthermore, whether or not you like unions, it’s completely absurd to think they should have the right to take your money by force simply because you work somewhere. No one has that right.

It's called paying dues and it's not absurd to pay dues. If you don't pay dues you are stealing the service. That's not okay, and of course it can't work that way. What if taxes were optional? Everyone gets schools and police protection but you only pay for it if you want to. That doesn't work. That's just silly.

And it's not by force, you know what union dues are when you take the job. If it's not worth it, then go work the non-union hospital. Except that it is always worth it. Those of us with the option know this.