Depending on the relationship between administration and your union, it may not create a negative issue for your organization. Our nurses are organized and we have a positive working relationship. The union contract establishes an objective management process within this division, while not creating increased labor costs. This is atypical from other hospital based unions.

I am currently part of the Military Healthcare System. I work and live in a foreign country which utilizes unions...many of them. There is not a specific one for the hospital that I work, but it serves the same purpose for all employees on the base. The experience has been very negative thus far. It seems as though, the unions will tell you eerything that you can not do and give you no solutions for common problems among all workers. I hae known some of the local national employees, that are normally members of these unions, to resign their membership.

If unions can work with managers to be a part of the solution vice the problem, in theory, I believe they can work. When you throw in human factors such as favoritism, greed, etc, these organizations for the people, punish the people.

Again, this is my one and only experience working with unions.

I work in a large non-profit healthcare delivery and insurance system. 60% of our workforce is unionized. The challenges we face are the management of multiple contracts with a variety of interests (we have 9 unions). This make HR management very difficult because policies can be different across contracts. The seniority based promotion and retention system also makes it difficult to implement leading edge human resources strategies to hire, develop and retain your best people.

In terms of working relationships, we've recently implemented an approach called "interest based bargaining". This is working really well for us and we believe will avoid strike situations.

The only way to discourage is to really appreciate your staff. I struggle with why people see any benefit to a union anymore. It seems like a fee that members pay for no tangible change. Honestly, what can a union negotiate that most of us aren't ready to give to keep excellent staff? I remember when my dad was on strike at a beef packaging plant. The end result-nothing but several weeks of no salary.

It is obvious that working with a union presents a great deal of "what if" scenarios. Some individuals have had a positive experience, whereas others describe it as extremely negative. These experiences include the organization, management, and employees. Cooperation is needed among all members in the current economic environment, and hopefully employees recognize if part of a union or considering forming one.

I work in a small rural HCO and my nurses are union. The union started in the early 80's and from I get from them (I've been here 9 years) is that they could not get anyone to listen. So I would say that to keep unions out I would strong recommend open communication and open appreciation for all staff. If you have that, you will get it back up to the top.

Have you kept up with the labor legislation that passed the House but not the Senate? The concern is that after the election, with a majority Democrat that this legislation may now pass. I am looking for the specifics, but it would no longer require a vote to bring in a union. Thoughts?