re: do any of you guys or gals have experience with unions for healthcare profession

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frick all unions, forever.

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x222

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Unions have a place.

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Trade unions (construction) yes. They're archaic everywhere else.

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Send me to the guy who knows that his hard work is what is going to take care of his family and not the guy that knows he can't get fired. Unions are currently good for only sucking the desire to better yourself out of its members.

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Some of you people are so ignorant, it would be funny if it were not so sad.

This is how unions often act: Owner of a unionized company is retiring and selling the business. The buyer will not purchase the company if it remains unionized. The union won't agree (even though they oculd have sought an election against the new owner - which means they thought they would lose). So, the company doesn't sell and is shut down. They would rather have their members unemployed.

I've seen unions sell out their members time and time again.

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've seen unions sell out their members time and time again

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This is what will confront the OP. Not only will you have a hospital come unhinged and start into damage control mode, you will have an un-sympathetic community.

Most people (myself included) have a "unions fricked my dad" story.

The difference in a nursing Union and say pipe fitters or whatever is night and day? Nursing unions made nursing a viable profession again in California with cost of living wages.

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Says the little bitch who just made a sweeping generalization of all union workers.

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Wait, are blue collar white people back in the progressive fold?

I spent nearly two years working at a Union hospital (NNU/SEIU). Full disclosure, I was on the Administrative side so my observation is from those lenses.

The Union is geared toward and protects the lowest level of employees. They say that every village has an idiot and I'm convinced the Union exists to make sure you keep them. Consistent under performers and those with attendance or other issues are the first to know the union handbook like the back of their hand.

Your compensation is also standandized, once the union negotiates a raise with the organization the raise is applied to everyone. This in my opinion removes any incentive an employee has to be a high performer. After all, there's no reward for being anything other than marginal. As a Senior Leader it also left me powerless to reward those employees who go the extra mile.

The bottom line with Unions is that things could be better, worse or the same. The only thing that is certain is that you'll be expected to pay dues and if you decline the Union will do nothing to protect you.

As it relates to healthcare the NNU likes to talk about Nurse/Patient ratios. They managed to successfully implement them in exactly zero of the 13 hospitals in our bargaining unit. They sold the RN's a bill of goods and gave them very little in return.

If you are dissatisfied with the organization you work for go somewhere else. If ratios and opportunity are important to you find a Magnet Hospital.

This was not California I assume?

Not sure how the nurses in a couple of states did it. It used to be a violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act for a licensed profession to unionize. It was considered to be one of the trade-off for having a protected learned profession via licensure. That said, I have not kept up with any changes to Sherman Anti-Trust in the last several years.

In defense of the hospitals, capturing insurance payment is one hell of a challenge. If you're lucky you might get 55 cents on the $, but more likely 45-48 cents. The hospital has to run things based on its finances. If the hospital is not open the nurses are not going to have jobs anyway. Healthcare is a very different animal in contrast to welders, pipe-fitters, etc. Not to say that the latter aren't important. However, healthcare is seen as a more sacred trust. I might add that the Affordable Care Act has fricked up things on more than one level. It is making it even harder for hospitals to capture payments from insurance. It is forcing employers to cut hours back on staff to keep them right under full-time, consequently a number of folks are working more than one job. Finally, many of the insurance plans offered under ACA have such a high deductible, that one starts wondering "why bother/" and take their chances with the IRS. That whole thing is screwed up.