At RMC, we value the trusted relationship we have with you, and we want to continue working together directly to fulfill our mission. To understand our position on unions, it is helpful to understand what a union is, and what a union is not. 

What is a union?

A union is a business. It is not a club, a professional nursing association, or a social organization. Unions represent employees in dealings with employers. In return, unions charge fees – commonly called “dues” – which are usually monthly deductions taken directly from employee paychecks.

Today, less than 7% of employees working in the private sector belong to a union. But, like any business, unions need revenue in order to stay in business; and union revenue comes from the dues paid by union members. Simply put, unions need new members to survive and stay in business.

What is collective bargaining?

Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between an employer and a group of employees (in this case, a union) aimed at coming to an agreement to regulate salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of compensation and/or rights for workers.

The process of collective bargaining, in which employees elect a union to represent them in adversarial negotiations with management, is often a conflict-oriented process. During bargaining, the union can make demands which management is then free to accept, modify, or reject completely.  

Under collective bargaining, a small group of union representatives and nurses would speak for all RMC nurses, regardless of department, unit, specialty, etc., meaning not every voice will be heard.

What Unions Can and Cannot Do

A union has no independent power or authority to change employees’ terms and conditions of employment.  In fact, when employees elect to unionize, the only thing the union “wins” is the right to ask management to provide the things the union promised to the employees (e.g. more pay, more benefits, more staffing, etc.)

During collective bargaining, management is required to consider the union’s demands in good faith; but the law permits management to say “no” and decide for themselves what the hospital is willing to agree to. Ultimately, even when a union is elected, management retains the right to manage the hospital.

In sum, the main power unions have is power over their own members.  For example, unions can do the following:

• Collect dues, fees, fines, and assessments from their members
• Negotiate and make proposals
• Refuse to act on an employee’s grievance
• Represent all employees, including those who voted against the union
• Require employees to go on strike
• Discipline, issue penalties, and/or fine members who violate union rules (i.e. the union’s constitution and by-laws)

  Again, a union has no power or authority to do any of the following:  

• Guarantee a union contract
• Guarantee higher wages
• Guarantee better benefits
• Guarantee hours
• Guarantee employment
• Provide more staff (i.e., nurses, CNAs, etc.)
• Prevent layoffs
• Prevent termination for just cause
• Set job standards
• Fire or transfer managers

Get the Facts and Don’t Sign Anything Unless You are Sure

The union’s organizers work hard to make unionization and collective bargaining sound simple and appealing.  For example, organizers often promise that unionization will result in “more” (i.e., pay, benefits, staffing, etc.); but these are only promises – not guarantees. 

We feel strongly that unionization is not in the best interest of RMC nurses, our patients, or our hospital.  This is why we encourage you to learn all the facts about the union before making any decisions, and – importantly – we encourage you to not sign anything in support of the union unless you are absolutely sure of what you are signing.

Unions are always looking for new, dues-paying members. RMC is attractive to unions because we have a large nursing workforce and we are growing. The more members unions have, the more revenue (i.e. membership fees and dues) the union can collect.  

A union’s first step in locking in new members is to get employees to demonstrate support for the union by signing a union “authorization card” or petition (in person or online). Whatever form it takes, these expressions of employee support are legally binding.

We want you to know the facts about union authorization cards/petitions so you can make an informed choice if you are asked to give your signature in support of the union – whether that request comes from a paid union organizer or another nurse at RMC. 

What is a union authorization card?

A union authorization card is a legal document that, when signed, gives the union the legal authority (i.e. the authorization) to speak and bargain for you in negotiations with RMC regarding your wages, hours, benefits, and all other terms and conditions of your employment.

What should you know about union authorization cards/petitions?

• Union organizers are not required to explain the law or tell you that union cards and/or petitions are legal documents.
• Your signature on a union card/petition is legal, binding, and final. If you change your mind, the union organizer is under no obligation to return a card or petition you signed.
• You have the right to refuse to sign a union card/petition, as well as the right to not support a union. 
• You DO NOT need to sign a union card or petition to be eligible to vote if there is ever a union election at RMC.
• Union organizers have been known to make misrepresentations, false statements, empty promises, and even threats to pressure employees to sign cards or petitions. Threats or coercion from anyone trying to force you to sign a card or petition are unlawful.
• Union organizers (paid by the union or employees who support the union) have been known to pressure others by phone, by text, by email, and in person (at work or at an employee’s home) in an effort to get support for the union

Do unions use other forms of solicitation to get evidence of employee support?

Unions can gather evidence of union support using other forms of documents, such as petitions or sign-in sheets at meetings. Another common practice is for the union to try to get employees to register support of content that they see online or that they receive via social media. 

The National Labor Relations Board has said an employee’s electronic signature is as equally binding as an actual signature and can be obtained when employees click “agree” or “submit” in response to something they’ve seen online.

Recently, a labor union has targeted RMC nurses for organizing. Understandably, many RMC nurses are trying to separate fact from fiction regarding the union’s campaign. Below are a few frequently asked questions about unionization.

➡ NNOC/NNU organizers are promising that, with the union, we will have better ratios, more pay, and better benefits.  How do you respond?

NNOC/NNU representatives can promise you anything, but they cannot legally guarantee any of their promises.  If RMC nurses elect the NNOC/NNU, all the union will have won is the right to ask management for all the things they are now promising during the collective bargaining process. 

And, while RMC management would always negotiate in good faith, we would also have the right to say “NO” and reject any specific union proposal.  Please remember that, in collective bargaining, the union has no power or authority to make any changes – management has to agree!

➡ Nurses can strike! Isn’t that one way the union could force management to agree to their demands?

Calling nurses out on strike is the main weapon a union has when trying to force management to agree to their demands. 

However, during a strike, nurses take all the risk.  For example, nurses at AMITA St. Joseph Medical Center went on strike on July 4, 2020, demanding wage increases and staffing ratio language. After 16 days on strike, nurses at St. Joseph returned to work with no additional staffing language and insignificant wage increases. 

➡ What did nurses at AMITA St. Joseph get after 16 days on strike?

When nurses strike, they do not receive a paycheck from their employer, they cannot use Earned Time (ET), and (in Illinois) they cannot file for unemployment. So when nurses strike, they are essentially out of work.  Consider these facts about the strike at AMITA St. Joseph:  

• During the 16-day strike, most AMITA nurses likely lost two weeks of pay. 
• As a result of the settlement, AMITA St. Joseph nurses received no wage increase in the first year of the three-year contract (2020), and only a 2% wage increase in contract years two (2021) and three (2022).¹
• All nurses at AMITA St. Joseph will be required to pay union dues (approx. $800.00 per year or 2,400.00 over the life of the three-year contract). 

When you consider all the facts about the strike at AMITA St. Joseph, it’s clear that there were no winners – the nurses, the hospital, and the community all suffered as a result of the strike.

1 Johnson, Alex: Widespread opposition as union sells out Joliet Illinois Nurses Strike, World Socialist Website, July 23, 2020; https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/07/23/joliet%20nurses-j23.html

➡ Nurses at Ingalls Hospital elected the NNOC/NNU in September 2019.  Didn’t they get better staffing and more money?

No. In the summer of 2019, Ingalls nurses heard all the same promises RMC nurses are now hearing from NNOC/NNU organizers. 

NNOC/NNU organizers promised Ingalls nurses big pay increases, more/better benefits, and fixed unit-specific staffing ratios.

One year later, the nurses at Ingalls have gotten nothing the union promised and are still working without a contract. 

How much longer will collective bargaining drag on at Ingalls?  Will the NNOC/NNU call Ingalls nurses out on strike like the union did at AMITA St. Joseph?  Will Ingalls nurses get anything the union promised them? 

It is impossible to predict.  That is the nature of collective bargaining – it is an unpredictable and risky process in which nothing is automatic or guaranteed. 

➡ Nurses at RMC want relief from staffing issues. Without the union, how can we be sure management will follow through on our staffing concerns?

Please know that RMC leaders hear you and understand your concerns – which is why we have been working hard to improve recruitment, retention, and staffing for all RMC nurses and other caregivers. 

Today, we are living through one of the most difficult periods we have ever confronted as healthcare professionals.

In fact, according to reporting last week in the New York Times, Kankakee, IL is one of the metro areas with the greatest number of new COVID-19 cases relative to population.

Understandably, employees are concerned and searching for answers.

Please understand that, if we work together, we will get through this period and emerge a stronger team on the other side.  Put your faith in our RMC Team – we will not let you down.

➡ RMC nurses are concerned about staffing. What is Administration doing to improve staffing?

Like many hospitals, RMC is facing a severe shortage of candidates for RN’s, CNA’s and other job classifications. The COVID-19 crisis has only compounded these challenges.

For the past several months, RMC leaders have worked to implement strategies to improve recruitment and retention and improve the staffing situation for all RMC nurses and other caregivers. And, while these strategies are beginning to produce promising results (since August, we have filled 78 CNA requisitions and 64 RN requisitions), we still have much more work to do.

➡ I heard administration has imposed a hiring freeze. Is that true?

No, this is not true. We are working harder than ever before to fill our open positions and provide incentives for current RMC staff to pick up extra shifts.

➡ You say the NNOC/NNU opposes the Magnet program, but where is the evidence of this opposition?

In a document titled “The True Forces Behind Magnetism” (written by the NNOC/NNU), leaders of the NNOC/NNU stated what they call their “unqualified opposition” to Shared Governance and Magnet recognition.

In this document, NNOC/NNU leaders refer to Magnet as “a marketing gimmick” that employs “evidence-based deceptions” and is a “rip-off of high public trust in nurses.” The NNOC/NNU recently repeated these claims when they referred to Magnet recognition at a Johns Hopkins Hospital as a “bogus credential”.

NNOC/NNU’s position on Magnet is just one troubling fact about this union. The NNOC/NNU also calls nurses out on strike more than any other union representing registered nurses.

It is for all these reasons that we have asked RMC nurses to get all the facts about the NNOC/NNU before signing anything in support of the union.

➡ Won’t RMC nurses automatically get more if they are represented by a union?

No, nothing is automatic nor can it be guaranteed by a union. If nurses choose to unionize, the union will enter collective bargaining with RMC. Collective bargaining is like a tug of war. During collective bargaining, unions can try to demand “more” (e.g. pay, benefits, etc.), but management decides what RMC is willing or able to afford.

If RMC nurses support (and ultimately elect) a union, management would always bargain in good faith. But that does not mean RMC nurses would get anything more than they have right now.

As a result of collective bargaining, employees could end up with more, the same, or even less than they had before unionization and collective bargaining. Furthermore, it is impossible to predict which pay programs or benefits might be increased, decreased or eliminated as a result of bargaining.

➡ Union organizers say the union would give RMC nurses a voice. Is that true?

No – under collective bargaining, a small group of union representatives and nurses would speak for all RMC nurses, regardless of department, unit, specialty, etc. So, under collective bargaining, the vast majority of RMC nurses would actually lose their individual voice and ability to speak on their own behalf.

➡ If a union was ever elected at RMC, would all nurses have to pay union dues?

Yes – the union would want all nurses to be forced to pay dues “as a condition of employment.” The NNOC/NNU charges its members 2.2 times the member’s hourly rate of pay per month up to a cap of $116.27 per month.

For an RN who makes $35.00 per hour, union dues would be $77.00 per month or $924.00 per year.

With nearly 800 registered nurses paying dues, the NNOC/NNU could collect over $739,000.00 every year from RMC nurses (or $2.2 million over the life of a three-year contract).

➡ I was told that because of “Janus vs. AFSCME” court decision I can opt out of paying union dues. Is that true?

No. The Janus decision only applies to the public sector. RMC is a private sector employer. If the NNOC/NNU was elected at RMC, they would expect all RMC nurses to pay union dues as a condition of employment.

If NNOC/NNU organizers are telling you that you will be able to opt-out, ask them to guarantee this ability (and other promises) in writing.

➡ NNOC/NNU organizers are promising that, with the union, we will have better ratios, more pay, and better benefits. 

NNOC/NNU representatives can state anything, but they cannot legally guarantee any of these promises. If RMC nurses elect the NNOC/NNU, all the union will have won is the right to ask management for all the things they are now “promising” during collective bargaining.

While RMC management would always negotiate in good faith, we would also have the right to reject any specific proposal from the union. Please remember that, in collective bargaining, the union has no power or authority to make any changes – our management has to agree.

➡ Nurses can strike! Isn’t that one way the union could force management to agree to their demands?

Calling nurses out on strike is the main weapon a union has when trying to force management to agree to their demands.

However, during a strike, nurses take all the risk. For instance, nurses at AMITA St. Joseph Medical Center went on strike on July 4, 2020, demanding wage increases and staffing ratio language. After 16 days on strike, nurses at St. Joseph returned to work with no additional staffing language and only insignificant wage increases.

➡ If I signed a card or petition in support of the union, can I change my mind?

Yes! If you feel you signed a card or petition in error, or want to change your response, you can ask the union to remove your signature and tell the union NOT to use your signature as part of any petition filing for an election at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). However, if the union files a petition for an election with the NLRB, you will likely lose the ability to rescind your signature.

➡ Nurses at RMC want relief from staffing issues. Without the union, how can we be sure management will follow through on our staffing concerns?

Please know that RMC leaders hear you and understand your concerns – which is why we have been working hard to improve recruitment, retention, and staffing for all RMC nurses and other caregivers.

Today we are going through one of the most difficult periods we have ever confronted as healthcare professionals. In fact, according to recent reporting in the New York Times, Kankakee, IL is one of the metro areas with the greatest number of new COVID-19 cases relative to population.

Understandably, employees are concerned and searching for answers.

If we work together, we will get through this period and emerge a stringer team on the other side. Put your faith in our RMC Team and we will not let you down.