Commentary: Nurses provide prescription for union revival

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?article_1_256

By Peter Rachleff
18 June 2010

ST. PAUL - The last 35 years have been disastrous for American unions. The percentage of the workforce represented by unions has declined from about 30% to barely 10%.

As the unionized island in the center of the workforce has shrunk, every element of labor relations affected by unions – job security, promotions and lay-off, job descriptions, wages and benefits (pensions, vacations, health care, etc.), grievance procedures, attention to safety – has slid away from workers. There has been a similar deterioration in union influence in electoral politics and public debate about key issues.

Furthermore, as unions have shrunk in size and scope, they have become the objects of public scorn, accused of protecting “bad” workers, delivering “Cadillac” benefits to their members, and pursuing their own self-interest at the expense of the wider community. In the midst of what can reasonably be termed a rout, many remaining union members have themselves lost faith in their organizations, questioned the efficacy of unions, and ceased participating in union activities.


Nurses picket outside Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids June 10 as part of the largest nursing strike in U.S. history.

The current campaign by the Minnesota Nurses’ Association to win favorable contract terms from a consortium of 14 Twin Cities hospitals provides an interesting prescription for some of the problems that ail other unions. These other unions would do well not just to support the MNA, but to observe their efforts and learn from them.

MNA’s focus on patient/ staffing ratios has promised members a real voice in the organization of their work. It has also connected nurses to the patients who depend on their skilled services. MNA’s use of Facebook has built an internal communications network that connects union members to each other and to the union leadership and staff. And the support given MNA by National Nurses United offers a model of how a national union can strengthen the resolve and resources of a local union.

FULL story at link.