Unions
and Nursing FAQs
Q: Doesn’t
involvement in collective bargaining weaken the professional
image of nurses?
A: As
both a professional association and a labor organization,
the Michigan Nurses Association has long supported and
encouraged the use of collective bargaining by nurses.
It is viewed as a means to an end — a workplace
mechanism to affect, maintain, and upgrade the standards
set by nursing. As such, it is a professional endeavor.
Q:
How does MNA's affiliation with UAN and the AFL-CIO help nurses?
A: The United American Nurses (UAN), the labor arm of the American
Nurses Association, is the nation's largest union of registered
nurses. It works to shape the future of all staff nurses
and the health care system for the better by improving the
economic and general welfare of nurses, providing a quality
work environment, protecting nurse and patient safety, and
influencing nursing practice standards. The AFL-CIO is a
federation of sixty-four national and international labor
unions, of which UAN is one, that represents thirteen million
working women and men including nurses, teachers, public
employees, doctors, pilots, and many other American workers.
Working together in union is the key to solving the challenges
we face in the health care industry.
Q: Can
an employer take punitive action against nurses who
try to organize?
A: The
National Labor Relations Act makes it unlawful for an
employer to (1) interfere with, restrain, or coerce
employees in the exercise of their rights to organize
or (2) discriminate against an employee with regard
to hiring practices, tenure of employment, or any term
or condition of employment in order to encourage or
discourage membership in a labor organization. This
means that an employer cannot express or imply a threat
of reprisal for organizing, or promise a benefit for
refraining from organizing.
Although
an employer is prohibited from engaging in certain types
of activities to thwart organizing, this does not mean
employees will not encounter strong opposition. An employer
has the right to voice its opinions and attitudes about
unions and the unionization of its operation, provided
its communications and actions carry no direct or implied
threat toward employees.
Q: What
types of organizing activities are permissible in a
hospital?
A: The
National Labor Relations Board has stated that nurses
have a right to engage in union solicitation during
their free time while at work, provided that such activities
are conducted in non-patient care areas and are consistent
with solicitation opportunities afforded other organizations.
Q:
How does MNA's affiliation with UAN and the AFL-CIO help nurses?
A: The United American Nurses (UAN), the labor arm of the American
Nurses Association, is the nation's largest union of registered
nurses. It works to shape the future of all staff nurses
and the health care system for the better by improving the
economic and general welfare of nurses, providing a quality
work environment, protecting nurse and patient safety, and
influencing nursing practice standards. The AFL-CIO is a
federation of sixty-four national and international labor
unions, of which UAN is one, that represents thirteen million
working women and men including nurses, teachers, public
employees, doctors, pilots, and many other American workers.
Working together in union is the key to solving the challenges
we face in the health care industry.
Q: Can
nurses be forced to go on strike?
A: No
one can force a bargaining unit to strike. Only unit
members themselves can make such a decision. Experience
has shown that nurses who have chosen to strike have
done so as a last resort.
It
should also be noted that if nurses decide to strike,
they do not abandon patients on short notice. Provisions
set forth in the 1974 Health Care Amendments to the
National Labor Relations Act guarantee continuation
of adequate patient care by requiring advance strike
notice and mandatory mediation, among other conditions.
6/19/07
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