unions in Tx ?

More than a decade ago, the San Antonio VA nurses were unionized. From what I heard, they did achieve quite a bit. TX legislation changed a while back that let employers tell more about the employees than just dates of hire, salary, eligible for rehire. This put a damper on union activity because nurses in San Antonio had been blackballed and the word and fear spread. A few unions tried to come in without much success. Currently the NNOC in the last few years has been having a bit of luck as far as recruiting members, but not so much luck with actually changing things overall. TX legislators are business men, they know nothing about the truths of healthcare. The NNOC was assisting the nurses in Mesquite who got fired.

I've been to Austin and discussed healthcare issues with the reps. They and they aides are truly clueless. They are very willing to learn about healthcare but are often powerless to legislate very well. When each member tries to get support for a bill, they often have to promise other things. They add on so much irrelevant crap to a bill that no one will vote for it because they will lose support for their particular bill or all the irrelevant stuff skews the message of the original legislation. Each legislator picks and chooses their battles. There are a few healthcare conscious legislators but most are friends of big business and until their mother goes into the hospital and dies from lack of staffing - they don't give our issues another thought.

I'm sure that MDs get checked out by Group One if they are employed by the hospital, like a hospitalist or intensivist. But private practice MDs are probably not on the list.

I am originally from FL a non union state and I never really understood the use of unions until I came to PA. Best 50 bucks a month I ever spent.

More than a decade ago, the San Antonio VA nurses were unionized. From what I heard, they did achieve quite a bit. TX legislation changed a while back that let employers tell more about the employees than just dates of hire, salary, eligible for rehire. This put a damper on union activity because nurses in San Antonio had been blackballed and the word and fear spread. A few unions tried to come in without much success. Currently the NNOC in the last few years has been having a bit of luck as far as recruiting members, but not so much luck with actually changing things overall. TX legislators are business men, they know nothing about the truths of healthcare. The NNOC was assisting the nurses in Mesquite who got fired.

I've been to Austin and discussed healthcare issues with the reps. They and they aides are truly clueless. They are very willing to learn about healthcare but are often powerless to legislate very well. When each member tries to get support for a bill, they often have to promise other things. They add on so much irrelevant crap to a bill that no one will vote for it because they will lose support for their particular bill or all the irrelevant stuff skews the message of the original legislation. Each legislator picks and chooses their battles. There are a few healthcare conscious legislators but most are friends of big business and until their mother goes into the hospital and dies from lack of staffing - they don't give our issues another thought.

I'm sure that MDs get checked out by Group One if they are employed by the hospital, like a hospitalist or intensivist. But private practice MDs are probably not on the list.

Sorry, I worked at the San Antonio VA. While they've had a union for quite some time (Since before I was there in '93-94), they gave up their rights to picket and they are government deemed essential employees so they can't strike. A union with no power is worthless. That union had no negotiating power at all. They traded it away. They were worthless.

They gained nothing. A waste of dues. That's why nobody belonged. I sure wouldn't pay that loser organization a penny.

Texas will never unionize because it is right to work. That means that I don't have to pay dues but the unions aren't allowed to negotiate better deals for union workers than for non-union. No dues AND I get everything the union could get. The result: you could probably get a majority to vote a union into being, but you could only get a fraction of that majority to actually pay dues. If a union cannot collect dues, the result is de facto union busting.

~faith,

Timothy.

Federal Veteran's Affairs Nurses are now unionized through UAN, union arm of ANA:

http://www.uannurse.org/va/newsletter.html

I hope for them it's better than the gov't employees union they had when I worked there. It certainly couldn't be any worse than to be in a union with absolutely no negotiation power.

~faith,

Timothy.

I work in Austin and we are developing a quickly growing union movement with the NNOC. I disagree that a union can't happen in Texas. We just have to remember that there is power in numbers! The more who join, the greater the chance for change!