In the 1950s the number of strikes dropped sharply, as the relationships
between unions and employers became more predictable. The 1960s saw a rise in
public employee strikes (teachers, transit workers and other local government
workers) and in 1970, the wildcat strike of 180,000 postal workers became the
largest public employee walkout in U.S. history. Declining strike volume during
the 1970s and 1980s are attributed to recession, as strikes are less common with
economic downturn, conservative political climate and declining union
membership. During this time striking union workers were commonly replaced by
non-union “scabs”. This was evident by the firing and replacement of striking
air traffic controllers (PATCO) by President Reagan in the 1980s. Nurse’s Unions
The most common reason for organized labor to walk off the job and strike are
wage-related issues.
Common reasons for nurses to strike are wage, benefits and
patient care demands. In California, the marathon contract dispute between
Kaiser Permanente and the California Nurses Association (CNA) alleges bad-faith
bargaining, poor quality of care, understaffing of licensed beds and improper
closures of facilities.
In 1997, the union issued daily press releases alleging poor quality of care
and cited daily instances in which Kaiser sacrificed patient welfare to save
money. (Sherer, 1998) The nurses have staged six one-day long strikes since the
contract expired in January 1997. The issues include not only wages, but the
fight for “the clout they (nurses) want in setting and enforcing standards”. (Sherer,
1998) They also want to be equal team members in reviewing and evaluating
whether acuity systems and classification methods are effective. Typically,
these systems are used to determine staffing levels and if inaccurate, working
conditions could be not only poor, but also dangerous. CNA is organizing
politically as well in California, scoring a victory in the California Assembly
with a bill that, if signed into law would mandate minimum nurse-to-patient
ratios. (Sherer, 1998) In August, 1999, the tight healthcare labor market along
with nurses’ frustration at hospitals where they work have allowed the CNA to
make strong gains in organizing and collective bargaining. (Moore, 1999) On
August 23, the CNA won a 20% pay increase over three years, plus the provisions
on the joint staffing/patient acuity committees at four Columbia HCA hospitals
in California. After the months of negotiation, the nurses’ vote to authorize
CNA to serve notice to strike lead to the settlement. Gary Chaison, a professor
of industrial relations at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, states
“I don’t think there’s a major union in the United States that isn’t in one way
or another approaching the health care sector.” (Greene, 1998) Recent changes in
healthcare have subjected nurses to the effects of cost cutting, shuffled duties
and reorganization, not to mention a chronic nursing shortage. Just 17% of the
nation’s 2.2 million RNs belong to unions, and labor groups are looking to
nursing to boost their dwindling ranks. Two AFL-CIO affiliated unions actively
pursuing nurses are the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the
United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW).
