Unions. What do they do for us?

vashtee, RN · Mar 7, 2009

I am brand new at this hospital and to the union, and I really don't know what the consequences are for crossing the picket line, but to be honest, I'd rather just go to work, too.

allnurses Guide · Mar 7, 2009

I guarantee you that I won't ever be going out on strike. I never intend to leave my patients without a nurse. Union or no union. They can't stop me from crossing the line.

Unfortunately some hospitals don't care the way you do. If they did they wouldn't cancel nurses for low census knowing patients will be admitted.

Due to unsafe staffing they leave patients without an available nurse.

Nurses don't strike at a moments notice. There is a ten day notice. During that time the hospital has the option to bargain in good faith.

And they can plan for the strike.

Postpone elective surgery, get replacement nurses, and such.

I went to the picket line to support the nurses. They had RNs assigned as picket captains who had given their cell numbers to the nursing management.

Managers were instructed to call if patient care was jeopardized. All nurses scheduled to work plus more were in uniform on the picket line.

One phone call and they would have gone in to care for patients.

There was no call. Replacement nurses were staffed at almost 1:1.

The hospital did not postpone elective surgeries.

Families of patients came out to support the nurses. Police brought them donuts.

BUT a strike is the LAST resort.

Voted on by all or nearly all the nurses.

I don't believe enough nurses would vote for a strike unless the patients were already endangered by management policies.

It is a very difficult decision.

Freedom42 · Mar 7, 2009

Diane227:

Do you have a guarantee of health benefits until your contract expires that stipulates how much you will pay and assures you that you won't be stripped of that benefit at any time? I don't.

Do you have a contract that specifies for what and under what circumstances you may be laid off or fired? I don't.

Do you have a contract that specifies when and how you will be paid time and a half, double time, triple time, or turnaround time? I don't.

Do you have a contract that tells you when you will receive your next raise and how much it will be? I don't.

You see, I work at a non-union hospital. I'd give my right arm to work for an institution that cannot fire me willy nilly, that cannot strip me of my benefits without warning, and that must commit to fair pay. That's what a union contract does for its members and, I hope, for you. If you don't like the terms of the contract or the way you think your fellow union members act on your behalf, I hope you'll get involved to work for change.

Your post does not say when you moved into a union shop; if you are in your first year, are you also paying an initiation fee? That can make your dues go up in the first year. No one likes paying dues. Fortunately, they are tax-deductible.

Iam46yearsold · Mar 8, 2009

I guarantee you that I won't ever be going out on strike. I never intend to leave my patients without a nurse. Union or no union. They can't stop me from crossing the line.

Right On, thats the way.

suanna · Mar 8, 2009

A union is only as strong as it's memberships willingless to support it. In all honesty, the only threat a union has to make in negotiations is to strike if a fair agreement cannot be reached. With this as an understood, what benifits, wage increases, vacation time is so unacceptable to you and your peers that you would be willing to take to the picket line for a few weeks, or mos without ANY pay in order to get the hospital to offer more. The union leadership cannot insist on any more than the membership is willing to back them up on. If you want to change things- run for a leadership position within your union. Most of the time these are thankless jobs that nobody wants for more than a few years at a time. If you feel you can inspire your peers to stand behind your negotiation team then you have a good chance of helping everyone! Good luck- I was on my union board for a brief while and found the futility to be too disheartining. Right now my employer is having a bit of a rough go from a $$ perspective. If it weren't for the union contract I'd be loking at a 5-15% pay cut, no raises, reduced benifits, no 401K/403b, no pension, and still possible lay-offs. With the union contract I have a choice of how much of my employers' $$ problems I'm going to be forced to compensate for. Not every hospital in my area has a unionized nursing department. Heaven help those nursing departments that are fair game for cost containment in todays economy.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Mar 8, 2009

Nurses and nursing are always soft targets when things are tight. No one wants to experience rollbacks, and even a unionized facility isn't immune. BUT... they're usually somewhat cushioned.

diane227, LPN, RN · Mar 8, 2009

I was a manager in Texas for a long time. Yes, we were in a right to work state, but I had to have proper documentation in order to terminate an employee. At my current hospital, union, we have the same standards. In our hospital it is nothing to do with the union. You still have to have the proper documentation to terminate someone and that documentation is no different than what was required in Houston. However, Texas has a strict nurse practice act, more than Washington state so many terminations are based on those standards because they are mandated under the board rules.

You know, I don't need the union to help me in my job. They have done NOTHING FOR ME except take my money and the small amount of raise that they were able to "bargain" for, a whole 1%. That small increase when to my increased union dues.

We get these ******** newsletters from the union almost every week about how "unsafe" nursing care is in the state because all the hospitals are trying to screw us. This is simply not the case. Staffing ratios here, for the most part are very good, at least at the hospitals I am familiar with.

The bottom line is that my hospital treats me in a fair manner. I am on a first name basis with the CEO. They have high standards for patient care and they make sure that we have what we need to provide that care. The management staff is responsive to my needs and when I do have staff on my shift (so far there have been two) that were unsafe, they got rid of them. The union had not helped me with any of this and I have never had to consult the union for any assistance in any matter.

So the bottom line for me is that just take my money.

HM2VikingRN, RN · Mar 8, 2009

How do nursing ratios in WA compare to Texas? You are benefiting from the efforts of a long series of contract negotiations.

One of the reasons that managers treat you well in your current hospital is related to a "dignity/respect" clause within the collective bargaining agreement.

HippyGreenPeaceChick · Mar 9, 2009

I really do not know much about unions. They must be good though, isnt there primary duty is to get our wages increased. More money is always good isnt it. Doesnt more money always make work situations better. At least that is what I get from reading here.

lindarn · Mar 9, 2009

So far they have not helped me. The cost of living here in Seattle is much greater than in Houston. I get paid more but I have more outgoing each month. Housing prices are huge here. Every time that I have received a raise, the union dues have gone up. Every single time. In the past three years I have not brought home any more money. When you do call them for a problem as a friend of mine did when she was terminated it tookTHREE WEEKS for someone to get back to her. I went to her grievance hearing with her and the union rep and the union rep was a total idiot. She had no idea what kind of questions to ask. Perhaps it is simply our union and others do not function this way, but I am VERY disappointed in the way our union is run.

Who are your unionized with?

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Spokane, Washington

OURN2009 · Mar 13, 2009

I am a nursing student at the University of Oklahoma and I have an assignment to interview a nurse that is a member of a nursing union. I read your discussion above and saw that some of you are opposed to unions while others are for unionization. I just wanted to know you guys thought were some of the pro's and con's of nursing unions. Thanks for your help!

RN4MERCY · Mar 13, 2009

I think most people believe they have a basic right to fair and decent treatment, such as "due process" in the environment of care when they walk through their employer's door and clock in. However, without a union contract, hospitals consider you an "at will" employee. If you're a believer in "just cause" discipline, "blame free environment", and "just culture", then belonging to an all RN union is an imperative if you're serious about advocacy for your patient and your profession, and you want to keep your job.

Often times, our duty as patient advocates, to act to change circumstances that are against the wishes or interests of our patients, may be in conflict with our employer's bottom line. Errors may occur under adverse circumstances or onerous working conditions that have been identified by The Institute of Medicine. Employers may choose to blame, discipline, or fire an RN when an error occurs, rather than take responsibility for changing those working conditions that have significantly increased the likelihood that such errors will occur.

One important benefit of belonging to a union is that you have Weingarten Rights. "Weingarten Rights" are Union Member protection rights that were handed down by the United States Supreme Court: the right of employees to have union representation at investigatory interviews. An investigatory interview occurs when a supervisor questions an employee to obtain information which could be used as a basis for discipline or asks an employee to defend his or her conduct.

If you have a reasonable belief that discipline or other adverse consequences may result from you say, (that could in any way lead to your being disciplined or terminated, or affect your personal working conditions), then you have the right to request union representation.

RULE 1: The employee must make a clear request for union representation before or during the interview. The employee cannot be punished for making this request.

RULE 2: After the employee makes the request, the employer must choose from among three options. The Employer must either: grant the request and delay questioning until the union representative arrives and has a chance to consult privately with the employee; deny the request and end the interview immediately; or give the employee a choice of having the interview without representation or ending the interview.

RULE 3: If the employer denies the request for union representation, and continues to ask questions, it commits an unfair labor practice and the employee has a right to refuse to answer. The employer may not discipline the employee for such a refusal.

In this era of restructuring, increased "through put," deliberate "lean and mean" short-staffing, mandatory overtime, lack of meals and breaks, coupled with the introduction of electronic documentation systems with known convergence technology problems, there are increasing delays of care, omissions, and med errors that threaten patient safety. RN licenses and jobs are being threatened because RNs are being blamed as individuals for these system problems.

That's why belonging to an all RN union and collective patient and professional advocacy is so important.