Let’s talk about UNIONS!

I was in a union for many years and when I was promoted to management, I got to see the other side. 

I strongly believe tha unions have outlived their usefulness and now exist only to enrich the union bosses, funnel money to politicians, support the lowest performing employees, and keep wages down. That’s right, I said DOWN!

As an employee, I would get so frustrated that Sally, who barely ever worked, who had a bad attitude, and who no one wanted to work with, would get the same raise as I did. 

During negotiations, they’d rile us up against management and promise all kinds of things. But when we went on strike, we didn’t get paid, but the union stewards all certainly did. And after all was said and done, it never really seemed to work in our favor. 

When I worked at places that weren’t unionized, I was able to negotiate MUCH higher raises because of the skills and attributes I brought to the table. With a union, the hardest worker essentially gives part of their paycheck to the worst employees so everyone can be paid the same. 

Look at the below video and I guarantee you every single one of these employees is lazy, has a bad attitude, blames everyone else when they mess up, and no one likes to work with them. They’re the people in the lunch room complaining that management didn’t buy gluten free pizza instead of being thankful that pizza was brought in at all (if this is you, yes, you are a low performer). 

As a leader, I came to see it even more. I’ll give you an example of a true situation I encountered in my first year in a leadership role. 

I has an open Lead RN position. It was quasi-leadership, but still a union position. I had 2 of my existing staff members apply. One had been in the unit for 3 years. We hired her as a new grad. The orientation required us to provide a 1:1 mentor for the new nurse for at least 3 months and longer if it was a complicate unit like the ER. Before she could complete her 6 month training, she became pregnant and went out on a leave of absence with complications. No big deal- I even threw her a baby shower. She was in bed rest for 4 months, had 6 weeks of postpartum time off, then took an additional 3 months of “baby bonding” time that was in the union contract. So she was out for 9 months. She came back and we had to start her “orientation” all over. Five months later, she was pregnant and had to go out on leave. Again, she was gone for 9 months total. When she came back, we started the orientation process AGAIN. 

Right after she completed her orientation (FINALLY!), the lead position opened and the requirements were 3 years of RN experience. 

The other applicant had only been on our unit for 2 years, but had 6 months of experience elsewhere. She was excellent with great clinical skills and the entire team respected her. 

Obviously, I wanted to hire the person who had actual experience as a nurse. The lead role is considered a floor “expert” and the one who helps guide others when chaos erupts. 

As soon as I told the “new grad” that is selected the other candidate, she filed a union grievance. She technically had 6 more months of experience and had been on our unit longer. 

I lost. I had to hire this inexperience nurse over a qualified nurse. Needless to say it was a disaster. The other RN ended up leaving our unit and became a lead at a sister hospital. Meanwhile, the new Lead RN got pregnant AGAIN and was out for another 9 months. 

Patient safety was never a consideration, nor was common sense. 

So, I feel unions are no longer useful and should be phased out. But I particularly think they shouldn’t be allowed in government or healthcare settings. 

Change my mind!!