Unions for thought

MN-Nurse, ASN, RN · Feb 14, 2012

I see you are in Canada. I am glad things are fine for you and generally in your line of sight.

However, things may be very different in other countries, facilities and units.

I live in the US, and generally working conditions in non-union facilities, like nursing homes, are orders of magnitude worse than union facilities like hospitals.

I would love to get you a job in one of those non union facilities and count the minutes until you run screaming.

But I cannot. So you may continue to enjoy the working conditions that were in part fought for and won by your past and current union representatives while you pee all over them for their effort. Classy.

nicurn001 · Feb 14, 2012

Aylix while you are so comfortable in your position it is due to the work of previous employees and union reps , gaining the pay and conditions you are presently working under .

I wonder how quickly you would be on a thread if you were employed by a facility that did have bad working conditions and poor pay , complaining about your lot there .

seems you are as my mother would put it " happy in your misery "

LynnLRN · Feb 14, 2012

I see your point. When is good good enough. I think unions have good value but when taken to far can ruin an institution.

By the way, I work for a non-union hospital and I think the employees are treated great. So good working conditions can be made without a union.

itsmejuli · Feb 14, 2012

I spent many, many years living and working in the US before returning to Canada last year. I was overworked, underpaid, and had no health insurance while working in an LTC in Florida.

I'm back in Alberta. I love my union and am grateful for every negotiation and ratification that has gone on. I'm not sure who my union rep is, but it would be easy to find out. I'm grateful that my rep would be standing beside me if I had an issue with my employer.

So, OP, was your union rep talking about your job or another company? Unions will often band together to protest against another company that is mistreating its workers.

nursingisok · Feb 14, 2012

Here is my 2 cents worth....What I know from my union is that I'm over worked and underpaid!!!!! I hear that time and time again. I hear that I can't do a good enough job because I don't have enough time to do it. Before working for a union organization I thought my pay was pretty good, not sure how much more I should be making but I know it is more than most people. I used to think I did a good job, I got my breaks, I was able to do a great job with my patients and even be able to get a couple minutes of chit chat with the other nurses...... If I continue to listen to the union I should be hating my job.... well I don't! I like what I get paid and I'm tired of a union rep who does not know me telling me I'm being overworked and can't do a good enough job. At what point are these reps going to be OK with institutions.... I would like to hear from reps as to what point will they start being ok with our compensation and workload?

So why don't you leave the union if they make you feel bad?

nicurn001 · Feb 14, 2012

I see your point. When is good good enough. I think unions have good value but when taken to far can ruin an institution.
By the way, I work for a non-union hospital and I think the employees are treated great. So good working conditions can be made without a union.

As in all things , if taken to extremes it ends in tears . I believe there needs to be a equitable balance of power betwen management and labor , when either side is too powerful the enterprise will not reach its full potential .

nicurn001 · Feb 14, 2012

So why don't you leave the union if they make you feel bad?

If there is only one employer in the area this could be difficult.

At least if you have a union you can work democratically to alter their course , , if you have a bad / intransigent employer you have little to no chance to change their actions .

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Feb 14, 2012

Here is my 2 cents worth....What I know from my union is that I'm over worked and underpaid!!!!! I hear that time and time again. I hear that I can't do a good enough job because I don't have enough time to do it. Before working for a union organization I thought my pay was pretty good, not sure how much more I should be making but I know it is more than most people. I used to think I did a good job, I got my breaks, I was able to do a great job with my patients and even be able to get a couple minutes of chit chat with the other nurses...... If I continue to listen to the union I should be hating my job.... well I don't! I like what I get paid and I'm tired of a union rep who does not know me telling me I'm being overworked and can't do a good enough job. At what point are these reps going to be OK with institutions.... I would like to hear from reps as to what point will they start being ok with our compensation and workload?

I'd welcome you to walk a day in my shoes and see how you like it when your manager decides out of nowhere that you cannot take a summer vacation because, in February, you don't have enough earned hours to cover time in August, when you're worth 60 cents a year to your institution as you see them spending millions of dollars on something like changing the hospital's name (or, rather, the order of words in the hospital's name) or when you end up working 2 hours past your scheduled shift because your patient got rushed emergently to the OR at 3PM and you don't get paid for it.