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Those of you that are union members, where are you?
I keep seeing posts of nurses having difficulties with management and, inevitably, one of the first suggestions is "take it to the union"
I cant be the only person shaking my head and saying "yeah, WHAT UNION?"
It seems some nurses think they are everywhere, so I'm curious as to how common they really are (and how much they really help).
So - union members
1 - is it hospital based, for your workplace only, or does it represent all nurses in the state?
2 - are all nursing personnel represented by the same union or are does it only represent RN/LPN or RN only?
3 - what does your union do for you (if anything)?
4 - what do you wish your union would do for you that it does not (if anything)?
5 - is there anything else about the setup that you would change to make it more effective and a better advocacy for nurses?
6 - is there any type of coverage for those who are not full-time/part-time employees (i.e. perdiem/agency/travelers)? If not, how are they treated differently?
Thanks for any replies!
Fergus,
I did it by resigning as a staff nurse and negotiating my own contracts. It seems that I did a much better job at negotiating than any union could or would do. I challenge every nurses union to sucessfully negotiate a pay increase equal to mine with a cut in hours. Are there any unions worthy of my support or hard earned money? Let them prove it.
I see. That isn't really an option for me at this point. Heck, even if it was, I doubt I would have been able to negotiate as well as you did. I've never been a great negotiator. You don't want to know how I felt buying my last car! With this union my pay is much better than where I used to live, and the hours are less, but no negotiation (by me) was necessary:)
I see. That isn't really an option for me at this point. Heck, even if it was, I doubt I would have been able to negotiate as well as you did. I've never been a great negotiator. You don't want to know how I felt buying my last car! With this union my pay is much better than where I used to live, and the hours are less, but no negotiation (by me) was necessary:)
Quite understandable - many lack such skills. To me, such should be part of our education and training. Another option is to set up a PPG (professional Practice Group) with 2-10 other nurses. One or two may be good a negotiating; another one or two may have talent in marketing; and one or two may have the talent for bookkeeping. By working in small groups you can still accomplish what some of us are doing. One thing for sure, you have nothing to loose by at least considering and discussing the matter. You never know what three or four or six others may add to the options and opportunities.
Sounds a lot like where I live Vicky - people that say the "u word" too loud or too often have ways of disappearing. Guess the union reps aren't the only mafia don-wannabees running around.
I agree! I would love to be able to join a union more than anything!
I am so envious of you Cali RNs in the CNA!
I am, however, a very good negotiator. I successfully negotiated my salary where I work. I asked for a specific dollar amount. I showed my boss documentation which explained why it would actually benefit the company to give me what I wanted.
She agreed, and went to bat for me. I got everything I aksed for. I recently learned that I am making more $$ than many nurses where I work who have more education and more experience than I do. I'm sure they could have gotten more money if they had tried, but they didn't. They just accepted what was offered.
However, there are some things that I have been unable change at my job, no matter how hard I try. These things are poor working conditions, lack of proper equipment and supplies, and unreasonable work loads. My employer frequently violates OSHA regulations, and working conditions are poor.
I wish we had a union to help us out with these things.
Those of you that are union members, where are you?I keep seeing posts of nurses having difficulties with management and, inevitably, one of the first suggestions is "take it to the union"
I cant be the only person shaking my head and saying "yeah, WHAT UNION?"
It seems some nurses think they are everywhere, so I'm curious as to how common they really are (and how much they really help).
So - union members
1 - is it hospital based, for your workplace only, or does it represent all nurses in the state?
2 - are all nursing personnel represented by the same union or are does it only represent RN/LPN or RN only?
3 - what does your union do for you (if anything)?
4 - what do you wish your union would do for you that it does not (if anything)?
5 - is there anything else about the setup that you would change to make it more effective and a better advocacy for nurses?
6 - is there any type of coverage for those who are not full-time/part-time employees (i.e. perdiem/agency/travelers)? If not, how are they treated differently?
Thanks for any replies!
I am curious, I have read a lot of things about the union and I want to know how long nurses had to wait to get a raise during negogations? Also do you continue with flexibilityof your schedule. For instance, where I work you can request your days to work, if something comes up and you need to switch a day you have the flexibilty to switch with another nurse. Another question that I have is: If you have a nurse that you have safety issues with what happens? Example I worked with a nurse that was unsafe, she had a patient on blood sugars every hour and would administer 10 units of regular insulin every hour to cover a blood sugar while the patient was NPO. Needless to say the patient went into an unresponsive hypoglycemic episode. The nurse was counseled and had to verify insulin administration with a specificed nurse prior to giving. She choose not to do this and repeated basically the same action that had negative outcomes on the patient. She was terminated for unsafe practice. Can this happen in an union? I would really like to know because we are considering a union.
I don't know what you mean by how long we have to wait for raises? Every contract I have even had negotiated in a union included a raise (generally a certain percent every year for the duration of the contract) that was effective immediately or retroactively if the contract was made retroactive. Most of them have a payscale with raises for each year of experience and many include education on their payscale as well. Our schedules are very flexible and we can switch with other nurses. Union jobs can be terminated for unsafe practice same as anywhere else. There is usually a specific process for it (write-up, counselling, whatever), which protects nurses who aren't unsafe from just being terminated for no reason. People seem to think that nurses can't get fired from union jobs, but that isn't true.
Those of you that are union members, where are you?So - union members
1 - is it hospital based, for your workplace only, or does it represent all nurses in the state?
2 - are all nursing personnel represented by the same union or are does it only represent RN/LPN or RN only?
3 - what does your union do for you (if anything)?
4 - what do you wish your union would do for you that it does not (if anything)?
5 - is there anything else about the setup that you would change to make it more effective and a better advocacy for nurses?
6 - is there any type of coverage for those who are not full-time/part-time employees (i.e. perdiem/agency/travelers)? If not, how are they treated differently?
In Australia one organisation (the Australian Nursing Federation) covers all nurses - there are separate branches for each state and territory, but they work within a federal framework. Public sector nurses are covered by Agreements, (different Agreements for different states/territories, and for psychiatric, agency, general nurses etc) which sets the wages and conditions for every nurse in the state; private sector nurses are covered by individual hospital Agreements.
As well as representing me regarding pay and condition claims, the ANF:
represents student members in administration disputes,
is a party to state and federal discussions and policy,
offers research scholarships,
disseminates research findings,
conducts short courses,
provides legal representation and advice,
publishes a monthly journal which combines industrial and professional practice issues,
includes malpractice insurance in membership dues,
is tax deductible,
and gives me access to Union Shopper (reduced prices on white goods, cars etc), among other benefits.
I am very happy with the ANF - as a consequence, I've been a job rep for the last twelve years. This entails being a contact for members on my ward, and in my hospital generally. My only concern is that more nurses are members, especially as non-members receive the same salary and conditions as members, but don't take industrial action or pay dues.
There certainly aren't any Mafia-esque aspects to nursing unionism in Australia - in fact, every year job reps vote down a suggestion that we pay reduced dues in recognition of our (unpaid) work on behalf of members. There are also salaried ANF staff, of course, but they don't wear Rolexes!
I hope this is interesting for you, RN4NICU, though I know it doesn't bear on the US system (which seems a little strange to my inexperienced eyes :))
WyomingRN
127 Posts
I agree - without a union, I have cut the hours I work by half and increased my take home pay by more than 200 percent. Can any union do that?? Oh ya - and I don't have to share any of my hard earned $$ with anyone "dressed like mafia dons".