[cassioo]

wow what to jump into here.
I work full time in a non union hopsital and I see no need for it here. I've gotten a raise every year I've been at this hospital based on performance and I think I've gotten fair performance reviews from several different supervisors. I'm also not a wallflower that sits and keeps my mouth shut about things either and I've not been "written up" for silly things. My hospital also pays better then others in the area and has high retention rate without unions.
The only employees I've seen fired should have been fired long before they were for absences or drug abuse but there is a process they have to go through to get fired.
I worked in a union factory for 9 years before nursing and yep we got that raise every year for the 3 yr contract but it was the same for everyone no matter what the performance was just the job classification. People didn't lose their jobs even when they were worthless as tits on boars. About the only time they did lose their job was when they didn't show up.
I think I've said before someplace that there was a time in this country for unions but I think that time has come and gone with the worldwide market that there is now.

[Anonymous]

Cass I'm so glad someone with "union experience" is voicing their opinion here...LOLL


WR,,, three commas for Becca

And it doesn't hurt that they agree with me either..LOLL

[cassioo]

The only time the union helped me was when I was 1 minute late and I was going to get 1/2 a bad girl point (you got 1/2 for 1 minute to 2 hours late or 1 pt for more then that or the 1/2 if you left 2 hours to 1 minute early)At the time I was doing 7 days a week 12 hours a day (mandatory overtime). I was stopped by a train so I said fine I'll go home and load the dishwasher. (needed to get more done at home then money with all that overtime)I came back before the 2 hours was up and went to the office (bad girl) told you can't do that. Yes I can it's my "point" if they give them out without exception I can do what I want on my time. I got sent home told I should be written up for poor quality work...what I wasn't working..yes if you weren't here doing quality work then it's poor quality...OK if you say so. Then got 2 more days off "without" pay. Well I did have the union so I ended up getting paid for all days and only ended up with my 1/2 point and I got things done at home. I still paid my monthly dues (automatic deduction) which went up with any raises.
I guess with nursing the hospitals maybe can't pull what they do with factories and say if you don't take this contract that we offer we'll take business to Mexico and scare everyone into signing a crappy contract. Nurses are similar to teachers who keep working without a contract so what real good does the contract do?

[Anonymous]

True they may not be able to bring the hospital to Mexico but they can bring the Mexican nurses to the hospital.

Watched a good show on MSNBC last night about St. Joe's in Phoenix.. One statement ( I don't know how true it is) was made that more nurses are leaving nursing than entering it.
And the biggest theme throughtout the piece was the nursing shortage. I never heard the word union mentioned. The two nurses featured stated often that people didn't realize what nurses do.. I don't believe a union can do that or needs to.. Nurses need to do it individually.

WR,,, three commas for Becca

[Cheerio_RN]

I agree with "Enthusiast".... Unions have traditionally been good for the working underdog. In today's economy and social mindset, for-profit hospitals are just that. It seems the only reason "Good Patient Care" comes into play is for a return profit. Hospitals are a business, in business to make a profit.

If nurses want to return to the art of good patient care, we need a strong unified voice to get the attention of Administration, and change the face of modern nursing in America.

[KimDRN]

I was represented by a union when I worked at a hospital in Maine. I found it to be mostly beneficial. We had a pretty straight-forward contract which outlined what could be sticky situations in non-union facilities. Job promotions, the awarding of positions, mandatory OT, floating to other units, representation at meetings by stewards at the nurse's request, and salary were just a few of the issues that were pretty well spelled-out for the employees as well as the administration.

[LeahNTexas]

I'm not sure if unions are the way to go, but I do strongly believe that nurses should stick together better than they have been. If we stuck together, we wouldn't have the high patient/low nurse ratio that we are dealing with now.

Leah-N-Texas

[janilcurn]

What a bunch of BS. If every nurses voted with their feet instead of having the guts and integrity to change the things that aren't right, there wouldn't be a hopital your "Big Girl" self would want to work in. Everyone knows it is always easier for people to walk out than stay and fight. You are just reaping the benefits of someone else's fight.Nursing unions have just about nothing in common with factory unions. The leadership is elected and their main purpose is to advocate for the nurses. Maybe some of you are willing to stand-up for yourselves, (and I fear it is in a very uneducated way), but some nurses are not able to do this and I will do it for them. As for collecting dues- I do not get a penny of the dues. However the membership reaps rewards from our coffers. We had an awesome Halloween party and are planning a Christmas party for our kids too. Don't judge unless you know what you are talking about. Perhaps the manufacturing jobs that are leaving, is not because of the unions, but because of President Bush's tax incentive to outsource work. Our union facility sets the wage scale or the entire city. Nurses who do not pay dues also reap the benefits of our contract. The UAN is doing wonderful things for our work environment- but since many of you don't beleive in unions, and would rather walk than fight, I hope you will also turn down any improvements organized labor brings your way.

[tmoorelpn]

I work in a LTC facility and this week our facility is being surveyed by the state department of public health. Also this week I had a massive migraine (probably due to the stress of having these people stare at my every move for hours). I had to call in sick to work that day because my migraines limit my vision and reading a MAR is nearly impossible- definitely not safe. Anyway, the ADON called me back and told me that regardless of if I was ill or not I would have to come into work anyway because the state surveyors are there. With the implied threat of losing my job if I didn't come in. I didn't go in,but if I would have went in to work that night I could have easily made a serious med error by reading the MAR incorrectly and that would be MY license on the line. I would rather lose my job than lose my license. But that's the downside of not having a union. My employment can be terminated for any reason just or unjust and there isn't anything that I can do about it. I even had a doctor's excuse stating I could not work that evening but they reserve the right to disregard Dr's excuses. Anyone know of any available positions in West Central Illinois.

[CeeJayRN BSN]

I must echo the posts of Andrew Lopez RN and janilcurn. Comparing factory unions and the nurse union is like comparing apples to oranges, if not worse.

The nurse union works and benefits us all. I saw it in action when I was in California. Now that I am back in Texas, I wonder what its going to take to wake up all the nurses here.

I am in a major city hospital where staffing is at a critical low. It is nothing for me to have 8 to 10 patients at a time. And no, there is no LVN to share the load with me. Administration cares only about the bottom line, not the frontline!

To add insult to injury, administration is now implementing a new dress code that will have all RNs and LVNs dressed alike. They say it is to differentiate the nursing staff from everyone else. I say BS!!!! They are doing it as a ploy to make the patients think that all nurses are RNs. They plan to add more and more to our patient load and give us an LVN to manage what another RN should be carrying! To hell with patient safety! Needless to say, this crap wouldn't - couldn't happen if we had a union!

As an appropriate and dignified form of protest, we RNs are planning to sew an RN patch on our left shoulder. At present the new dress code does not prohibit this. I'm willing to bet administration will quickly amend the dress code to ban patches.

When administration first informed us all by email that this new dress code is going into effect, they also stated that we would all conform immediately or be fired. And people wonder why there is a nursing shortage???? They also implied that if we didn't like it, we could leave. Well, by golly, if we had a union they wouldn't have the nerve to be so bold.

If there is a union organizer reading this, please contact me!