Nurses Union in Ohio (Cleveland, Akron: university, health care, deal)

[bakkam]

Do you know of any hospital systems where some nurses are in an union? Just wanting to see if this is common or otherwise in Ohio.

[CortlandGirl79]

Ummm.........i would have to guess that most hospitals in ohio are unionized. At least in NE ohio the nurses are unionized..........along w/janitors and the like. I know Forum Health in the Y-town/Warren area is definitely unionized. Hope that helps a little.

[bakkam]

Originally Posted by CortlandGirl79

Ummm.........i would have to guess that most hospitals in ohio are unionized. At least in NE ohio the nurses are unionized..........along w/janitors and the like. I know Forum Health in the Y-town/Warren area is definitely unionized. Hope that helps a little.

Thanks for the information.

Now, does this mean that nurses are unionized in Cleveland Clinic, MetroHealth Hospitals, University Hospitals of Cleveland and other hospitals in the Greater Cleveland area?

Please, for the sake of NE Ohio, someone, tell me this ain't true.

[bakkam]

Originally Posted by CortlandGirl79

I know Forum Health in the Y-town/Warren area is definitely unionized. Hope that helps a little.

I believe, so is Kaiser Permanente in Ohio, but I am not sure.

[CortlandGirl79]

I'm not really sure about the cleveland clinic or the others you mentioned. Are you a nurse? What are you concerns w/nurses being in a union? Are you from the south or a right to work state where most people are anti-union? Just wondering what the big deal is......

[Donna7]

I know a lot of nurses (are friends or friends of friends) that work at Akron General Hospital - they are unionized. Okay, I'll stop here and not add further comments as this is not the scope of the post.

[bakkam]

Originally Posted by CortlandGirl79

Just wondering what the big deal is......

Slackers may use the context of unions inappropriately. For folks who are janitors, unions are a okay.

When patients deal, (often not knowing this tidbit) with unionized health care folks, these slackers could have a negative impact on quality of patient care leading to undesirable consequences.

And this 'whats the big deal is...' is a poor attitude among some NE Ohioans. And probably there is enough of this in this area.

[Crew Chief]

Bakkam, I don't have a dog in this fight. IMHO, unions are a mixed blessing. From what I've read, nurses could be treated a lot better than they are. Unions or no, I'd still like to know that the folks responsible for our care are treated well. And I'm guessing that union membership has the same amount of supporters and detractors as any other industry that jhas them. (For my job, I don't know how a union would make my situation any better. But overall, unions have mde things a lot better for truckers like me...)

[Donna7]

Originally Posted by bakkam

Slackers may use the context of unions inappropriately. For folks who are janitors, unions are a okay.

When patients deal, (often not knowing this tidbit) with unionized health care folks, these slackers could have a negative impact on quality of patient care leading to undesirable consequences.

And this 'whats the big deal is...' is a poor attitude among some NE Ohioans. And probably there is enough of this in this area.

You got that right - on both counts. Slackers are protected by unions, and yes, there is a poor attitude among some NE Ohioans. I've been here most of my life (over 36 years) and observe it all the time. I used to be in public accounting; if we didn't perform, constantly upgrading, getting new clients, being on top of the game, you were out. That's how it was. Like I said, I have many a nurse friend (not picking on nurses, it just happens that I do have a lot of friends that are nurses), and there are a few, just a few, that I know would have been out on their butt if they pulled any of the things I see them pull routinely at work, knowing that a union would stand behind them. If they worked in the environment that I worked in, they would have been gone years ago. This is 100% true.

To the other poster who said that nurses could be treated better; I suppose that's true. Everyone should be treated professionally with ethics and morals. My nurse friends were on strike a few years ago; after the strike was over with and they got most of what they were striking for, my nurse friend said that even though they were striking for several issues, it was the way that they're treated by management that ultimately bothered them. I don't understand the constant conflict between management and union. I sometimes wonder if the unions make up conflicts in order to keep up the "us against them" mentality.

[Crew Chief]

Originally Posted by Donna7

You got that right - on both counts. Slackers are protected by unions, and yes, there is a poor attitude among some NE Ohioans. I've been here most of my life (over 36 years) and observe it all the time. I used to be in public accounting; if we didn't perform, constantly upgrading, getting new clients, being on top of the game, you were out. That's how it was. Like I said, I have many a nurse friend (not picking on nurses, it just happens that I do have a lot of friends that are nurses), and there are a few, just a few, that I know would have been out on their butt if they pulled any of the things I see them pull routinely at work, knowing that a union would stand behind them. If they worked in the environment that I worked in, they would have been gone years ago. This is 100% true.

To the other poster who said that nurses could be treated better; I suppose that's true. Everyone should be treated professionally with ethics and morals. My nurse friends were on strike a few years ago; after the strike was over with and they got most of what they were striking for, my nurse friend said that even though they were striking for several issues, it was the way that they're treated by management that ultimately bothered them. I don't understand the constant conflict between management and union. I sometimes wonder if the unions make up conflicts in order to keep up the "us against them" mentality.

Donna, I shouldn't even be hijacking this thread since I'm not a nurse. But one more comment and I'll quit. Having never been in a union, I don't know about what attitudes a union may or may not be encouraging. But IMHO, it does seem like far too many businesses see labor as merely a replaceable "cost factor" and treat employees that way (That's certainly true in my industry) But we are veering waay off the subject, so I'll stop now. (FWIW, those I directly work for treat me well, despite company and industry policies that make it difficult for them to do so...)