Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Nurses Strike - Finale

The Nurses Strike has ended this weekend here in Lansing. But its unclear who the real winner is. You ask the union, and it seems like the nurses came out ahead. You ask the hospital, and they'll tell you the nurses came out ahead aswell. You ask a nurse and get very mixed answers.

The breakdown:
Pension:
Nurses did not get any change in pension. This means they did not even get what the McLearin nurses are getting over in Flint, Mi. As I said before, the union should have been fighting for a 403b, as Delphi has just showed us, pensions are a thing of the past, and can disappear.

Staffing:
Well, this what it was all about right? But only 3 units out of 13 or so (sorry not sure exactly how many units they have) will have an increase in staffing. That means about 77% of the nurses that striked will get shit in this category. Congrats to the nurses union on this.

Wages:
Well they'll get a ~10% wage increase, which is nice, but too bad they were getting that BEFORE the strike. So we really can't count this.

In the End:
The only hope nurses can have, is the increased bargaining power they may have for the next contract. Or better yet, get some different Union reps.

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