RNs Against Forced Unionism: Nursing Unions are not Everyone!!

RAFU, they are calling themselves, RN Against Forced Unionism.

See the website at http://www.thepronurse.com/blog.html.

Are you for or against unions in nursing?

Comments

[latonia]

Jeff and Sasharose, thank you both for your comments. Your comments reflect the diversity in how nurses feel about nursing unions.

[Jeff Pierce]

If a company can not financialy run a hospital and support it's staff adequatley, then they should not take on the responsability of running a hospital. You need to know that greed is the most common reason for any busness to fail. Up until recently there was a lot of money to be made in hospital adminestration. Taking Medicaid and medicare payments was the most profitable. The tides have turned, some hospitals are at a panic as they can't read the future. If nurses are left to trust hospital administration to watch over thier future, then they are all open to the financial whims of the hospital's board of trusteees and the CEO. Beleave me. Your live can be drastically changed in an instant if the hospital you work for made some bad dicissions.

[Jeff Pierce]

The reason for unions are, most of your private nonprofit and private for profit hospitale are more concerned with the 'bottom line' than with the care given or the nurses giving the care. They primarily want the most share of the profits from a given area. they really don't care about you as a nurse, your children, your plans for retirement or your commitment to a city or your settling in a community to raise your family. In the eyes of a CEO, nurses are expendable. If thier policies or stafing cutbacks get them in trouble, just fire a nurse and all of the watch-dog agencies will get off of thier backs. I would easily pay $23.00 per paycheck to have someone help me durring my career to bail be out of a situation that could end, or hinder my ability to continue nursing, especially if the boss was just wanting to decrease his overhead. What you people don't understand is that most hospitals are all about grouth and profits just like any other corporation. The big guys (CEOs and CNOs ) get huge bonuses and pay imcreases just like the fortune 500 club. Just thought you would like to know----Jeff Pierce RN Reno, Nevada.

[sasharose]

If unions were so good for healthcare why has there been issues with hospital closures, leaving the nurses to go out and seek other employment without any assitance from the unions. Why have 9 hospitals closed in NJ? Let me remind you that more than 10 yrs ago, United Hospital, Newark, NJ, a much needed children's facility, went bankrupt due to the greed of JNESO.

The RNs worked a Baylor program, and came in during the week to work at a double time and 1/2 rate. Hospital greed? I think not.

The CNA/PASNAP/NNOC union is unable to save Northeastern, what becomes of those nurses? Oh yes, there are bumping rights!!! So perhaps the highest paid, and least qualified gets to bump someone more qualified out of a job.

The NNOC was unable to do anything but make a backdoor deal with Tenet, a "neutrality agreement". That is better known as a "sweetheart deal". And let me remind you all that the CNA/NNOC comes straight out of a BANKRUPT state , California.

Let's go back to NJ. Look at the Englewood strike, by HPAE.....my opinion? Highly irresponsible on the union's part. Hasn't anyone read about the cuts, nationally? Swine flu epidemic? The auto industry? The economy??? The givebacks that other unions have had to endure?
I gave my union card the boot a long time ago, and I do not regret it one bit.