I’m sticking with the union

In 2011 I received a phone call from a fellow nurse.  After some small talk, she told me she and others had been talking to a union organizer, and asked did I want to speak with him?
Without hesitation, my answer was yes.
When I started at my hospital 16 years prior it was a place I was proud of.  The staff worked together, our manager cared about our wellbeing, the CEO knew us by name and would visit departments on a regular basis.
Most importantly, the patients and their families were the center point of our attention. Everything we did was to support them.
Yes, it was a business, but it was a hospital first.

By 2011 that had all changed.
There was a change in leadership. Managers came and went so fast they never had a chance to develop relationships with the people in their departments.  The new CEO? On the rare occasion he came out of the office, people fled, fearful he was on an inspection tour to find something or someone in the wrong.
Supplies were cheapened and staffing became so short that we lacked the time to care for our patients properly.
We were no longer a hospital.
We were a business, that just happened to be a hospital.
Staff went from being a resource to being an operating expense.
Patients and their families were no longer the center point, profit was.

They had taken away our voice, and in so doing, has taken away the ability for us to fulfill our life’s mission.
So we joined together to regain our voice.

Things didn’t turn around immediately.
But this year in negotiations, the Backus Nurses packed the room with 1/3 of our members on a consistent basis.
Not bad for a group that works 24/7, so that the other 2/3 of the members were working at the time or sleeping in prep for the next shift.
That coming together has given us our voice back.

We are now partners at the table, not items on the menu.

The Betsy DeVos’ and Kotch brothers of this world would ask us to give up that voice.
They promise our union dues in return.

I have news for them.
For healthcare workers, for educators, for public employees, for all workers…….
It’s not about the money.
It’s about our voices.
It’s about our souls.

And they’re not for sale.

I’m sticking with the union, because these are my sisters and brothers.