Workplace Issues

The Organizing Model in Your Facility

With a Union, You'll Never Go It Alone

When there’s a problem, you can solve it together as a group. Because you speak with one voice, you have a say in decisions that affect you and your patients. Working together, you can make your hospital a better place to work and receive care.

With an NNU contract in place, members have new avenues for solving problems and making improvements every day. We emphasize using the collective power of RNs in our facilities over individual representational methods. This includes creating strong effective Nurse Representative/Shop Steward Councils and Professional Practice Committees (PPCs). This is an important shift away from a legalistic grievance-filing model and toward an organizing model that gets problems resolved early and through group action of nurses.

When we organize over issues in the workplace, usually we are fighting to enforce the contract, and other times we fight for things which may not be explicitly covered in the contract but are issues RNs care about. As you become more organized and more accustomed to these sorts of activities, you may find that more and more problems can be resolved without resorting to formal grievances.

Your Contract

The contract is a kind of historical record of the achievements of the RNs in your facility. It institutionalizes the victories of the past and establishes the minimum that you can expect from your employer. It is a mistake, however, to view the contract as a lifeless document. In the hands of a good nurse representative/shop steward, it is interpreted creatively in the interests of the members. The contract itself is only so many words unless RNs are willing to stand up for their rights.

Whom Should You Call?

Often there is confusion regarding the difference between the role of the nurse representative/shop steward and that of the Professional Practice Committee. This is not surprising because often the issues they address overlap. 

• The nurse representative/shop steward primarily deals with contractual problems. 
• The PPC primarily deals with nursing practice issues. 

It is important for the nurse representative/shop steward to maintain frequent contact with the PPC. Problems that are not clearly grievable may be subjects for the PPC. Problems such as excess floating, overtime, stand-by and call-back time, or frequently changed schedules are often indicative of staffing problems. The PPC should be aware of these so that the broader issues can be investigated. Conversely, practice issues such as safety hazards may be contractual or legal problems.

Grievance Policy and Organizing

Why Grievances Are Not Enough

Grievance and arbitration, negotiated into every NNU contract, is a formal, time-limited procedure used to resolve individual and group issues with management. A grievance is a claim by a member or by the organization that there has been a violation of the contract or a law. Management knows whether you are alone or whether your colleagues are supporting the grievance as well. Resolving issues is less about individual skill and more about the balance of power in your unit and in your facility.

Simply filing a grievance and waiting for the process does little to alter that balance of power in the nurse’s favor. It is usually not a collective activity, but it is carried out by one individual, the nurse representative/shop steward. It takes the issue off the unit and out of your hands. While the grievance slowly winds its way through the process, you have nothing to do but wait.

The NNU Philosophy in Handling Grievances 

• Grievances are best settled based on the support we have among our colleagues, not by pure reason. 
• An NNU agreement merely lays down some of the rules for the ongoing struggle with our employers to maintain and improve our conditions. A union agreement does not settle things for all time. 
• There is rarely an undisputed interpretation of contract language. 
• Grievances must sometimes be filed, but they should also be fought for by: 
  • Making them visible and public, so that everyone is aware of what is taking place. 
  • Making them collective, group grievances involving as many members as possible. 
  • Making them active, involving numbers of RNs in various actions. 
• Being mobilized to face the hospital management that is causing the problem and that has the power to resolve them.

Identifying the Kind of Problem

Contract Violation

A violation of the contract may take the form of a specific provision of the contract or an agreed-to interpretation of a provision of the contract. Violation of Federal, State, or Regulatory Law by the Employer.

If the action of the employer being challenged is in violation of a law, such as federal or state antidiscrimination laws, occupational health and safety laws, or the state nursing practice act, we may notify the appropriate government regulatory agency, in addition to documentation through a coordinated Assignment Despite Objection campaign, use of the grievance procedure to correct the violation, or all of the above.

Violation of a Well-Established Past Practice, Procedure, or Policy by the Employer

If an action by the employer is in violation of a well-established practice or procedure, there is a basis for grievance, even though the practice or procedure has not been formalized. If neither party has questioned the practice or procedure in the past, there may be an implied joint acceptance of it.

Violation of an RN’s Rights Through Unjust Discipline or Discharge

One of the most important functions of the union is to provide justice on the job. It is a basic way of providing job security and the dignity and peace of mind that result from being protected against arbitrary and unjust discipline or discharge and other punishment that exceeds the infraction.

Violation of a Nurse’s Professional Responsibility to Patients

As licensed professionals, we are legally responsible for our actions. Even though the contract may be silent on a particular issue or condition of employment, there may be a circumstance for which the employer is responsible that adversely affects your ability to meet your professional and legal obligations to the patient. And, of course, always fill out an ADO.

As Nurse Representatives/Shop Stewards and PPC Members:

• You are on equal footing with management when advocating for your members. 
• It is against the law to retaliate against you because of the way you advocate on behalf of your patients. 
• Management cannot hold you to higher workplace standards than other members.