Unionization is the process of placing employees of a certain company or organization into a labor union, which may be used as a go-between or intermediary between the management of the company and the employees. Nurses make a pledge to give their service to the welfare of the patients and not themselves. This can only be done by nurses who think and speak freely and independently. The nurse acts as a servant to the patient, and this should not be interfered with since the professional freedom and status of the nurse may be eroded.
The unions formed mostly focus on attaining collective bargaining and economic considerations for the nurses and do not pay much attention to the patient. This erodes the professionalism since their main objective is not to their patients but themselves. When this takes priority, nursing becomes a different profession, as it should be. This has been the major criticism of unions in the nursing profession (Shi, 2007).
Collective bargaining refers to negotiations between the representatives of the bargaining unit, who are the union, and the employer to come up with an understanding to govern the working conditions of the employees. The costs of the negotiations are then transferred to the patient, which is another disadvantage of unionization of healthcare workers (Guerin, 2016).
Unions discourage individual initiative thus when one of the nurses does more work than the other, there is no difference in their paychecks, and this causes laxity in some of the nurses. Most of the leaders in these unions have no knowledge of nursing. Their only intentions are to be in power and to be able to satisfy their political urges.
When there is a transition, of a manager from being a member of a collective bargaining unit to a manager who is not, one has to be prepared to be on the opposing side of the other members since the member becomes the center of placing all the grievances.
One should also be prepared to find good bargains for the company and for the employees who are in the collective bargain unit. That may be a difficult task to undertake since topics of discussion may include wages, hours, and other employment terms.
The manager will have an advantage over the union since he/she has more information about the company. However, the manager may be required to avail some information during the negotiation process. When there is a need to lay off people or if there are any changes in the company, the manager needs to give an advance notice to the union. This is because some issues may require bargaining to take place.
During an event of an employee’s strike, the manager is at liberty to hire new employees as their replacement to continue with their services. The manager should not bargain on issues that do not concern or relate directly to a worker. Promising benefits to workers to oppose unionization may not be prohibited. That may or may not work against the union (Yoder-Wise, 2013).
This type of transition may be quite discomforting since one may be in a position where they are required to lay all of their work-related issues on the manager, and then the mantle of being the manager is passed on to this particular person. One of the most important advantages is that the individual has the ability to understand the needs of the employees.
In conclusion, the process of unionization conflicts with professional nursing orientation. This means that as much as the nurses seek to use the unions to fight for their rights, they have to ensure that the patients do not pay for their act of neglecting their duties. They should put the lives of the people first as nursing is a very sensitive profession. Overall, it is important for the union leaders top ensure that the demands of the nurses are met, to avoid laxity and increased numbers of unattended patients. Such a move will ensure that both parties are satisfied hence avoiding conflict.
References
Guerin, L. (2016). Collective Bargaining - Employer/Employee Union Bargaining | Nolo.com.
Nolo.com.
Retrieved 12 May 2016, from http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/collective-bargaining.html
Shi, L. (2007). Managing human resources in health care organizations. Sudbury, Mass: Jones
and Bartlett Publishers.
Yoder-Wise, P. S. (2013). Leading and Managing in Nursing - Revised Reprint. London:
Elsevier Health Sciences.
