Improving Workers' Lives

Quality of care.  Understaffing leads to a high turnover rate and it is one of the reasons many healthcare workers leave the field.  Working together, we can implement safe staffing standards and improve the level of care we provide to our patients.

A voice at work.  When you join with your coworkers, your employer has to negotiate with you as a group.  Together, you have more power than you would have as an individual to demand a fair wage, sick pay, vacation days, and improved working conditions at your job.  Once you ratify your contract, your employer cannot make any changes without negotiating and reaching an agreement with all of you first.

Health care for you and your family. Healthcare workers should not have to worry about how to pay for their child to see a doctor.  Individual coverage is not enough for people with dependants.  This is why our members have fought for and won family health coverage. 

Job security.  In almost every workplace the employer has the right to fire or lay off people at their discretion, leaving workers and their families with no pay or benefits. This is true even for those who are only six months from retirement.   A union contract protects existing jobs for the life of the agreement and includes clauses on severance pay and steps an employer must take if layoffs cannot be avoided.