unions

FAworld · Dec 9, 2007

The hospitals in my area (Northern CA) are union.

suanna · Dec 9, 2007

Many nursing departments do have a union but there is no national concensus on which organization is best at representing nurses needs. There have been rumblings in some of the local units about trying to set up a union sponsored health and retirement plan but we are a long way from getting the employers to accept this or getting enough of the local unions to join to make it viable. You also still have a good many nurses who are opposed to working in a "union shop". The feeling is it makes us less professional to have group representation of our labor needs.

meandragonbrett · Dec 9, 2007

I might get flamed for this *puts on fire retardant suit* but have you ever tried to get a group of nurses to agree on something? We tried to go union a few years ago and everybody was 100% for the union until it came time to sign the line.

dave5000 · Dec 31, 2007

you may be right about getting the nurses to agree to anything besides lets get a drink after work. :angryfire

Logos · Dec 31, 2007

Unions SUCK- I would not want to work anywhere that had a union- no way-- UNION'S are horrendous money making crap factories........just my opinion :)

ChristineN, BSN, RN · Jan 1, 2008

one of our local hospitals here in Pittsburgh has a union I looked into working there, and while the nurses I talked to there loved the union and how it worked for them, they admitted they were making less money than they would elsewhere.

TheOldGuy · Jan 1, 2008

"Unions SUCK- I would not want to work anywhere that had a union- no way-- UNION'S are horrendous money making crap factories........just my opinion"

- Gee the CNA in Calif has been responsible for establishing safe

Nurse/Pt ratios and compensation for RN's ranging into the 6 figures. In PA, SEIU has worked to get similar legislation. I wish I had known that CNA really is a horrendous money making crap factory before cashing my paycheck - guess I ought to move to PA, find a non-union hospital, have 8 pts on a M/S floor and earn 40% less.....and risk getting fired if I complain about it.....:uhoh21::uhoh21:

allnurses Guide · Jan 2, 2008

My union is part of the AFL-CIO, with local control.

I have scheduling, holiday, overtime, staffing, seniority and payscale language in my contract.

We are LPN and RNs of all degrees together. Gee, seems like we all agreed about something, doesn't it? and BTW, we are open shop.

Freedom42 · Jan 2, 2008

Unions SUCK- I would not want to work anywhere that had a union- no way-- UNION'S are horrendous money making crap factories........just my opinion :)

Right on. Who wants job security, contractually guaranteed benefits and a good pay check when you can live on the edge? Here's to losing your benefits on a whim, being fired for no apparent reason and waiting to find out if and when you'll get a raise -- and how much. I love a surprise!

By the way, I'm only a nursing student, but it's thanks to my years in the Teamsters that I could afford to quit my well-paying job and take two years off to go back to school full-time -- and really, that I could afford to become a nurse at all, since my retirement is already fully funded. Had I been working today, New Year's Day, I'd've earned double time for the first eight hours on the job and triple time for hours after that. And don't get me started on turn-around time. How does that compare to what nurses are earning in non-unionized hospitals?

You think unions suck? I sincerely hope this is one lesson you never have to learn the hard way. As for the poster who says the unionized nurses are earning less than others in the same area: Sorry, I don't buy it.

ChristineN, BSN, RN · Jan 2, 2008

You think unions suck? I sincerely hope this is one lesson you never have to learn the hard way. As for the poster who says the unionized nurses are earning less than others in the same area: Sorry, I don't buy it.

In my town, it's true. this is comparing union hospital to other non-union hospitals owned by the same company. Nurses at union hospital start at $17.50, without union $19.50

I'm not pro or against union. I'm just stating the facts as I have found them from job searching here in Pittsburgh.

Freedom42 · Jan 2, 2008

Thanks for your response. Are you talking Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania? And can you tell me which company? I'd also like to know how long the union has been in place.

I'm also surprised that wages would be so much lower in an urban area than in my rural home state, where I expect to start at around $25 an hour.

Numerous studies, including this one commissioned by the Institute for Women's Policy Research, have found that unionized nurses enjoy significantly higher wages. This study also concluded that nurses' wages are higher in cities with a stronger union presence -- for both union members and nurses who are not in unions.