INSTITUTIONAL OBSTACLES TO RN UNIONIZATION: HOW “VOTE NO” THINKING IS DEEPLY EMBEDDED IN THE NURSING PROFESSION

Abstract

The essay examines private sector unionization in the U.S., arguing that elections for representation frequently are unfairly unbalanced against supporters of union representation. Given that hospital administrators typically harbor an antiunion bias, with few exceptions, representation elections are permeated with employer propaganda to ensure their institutions remain nonunion. Passage of the Employee Free Choice Act would significantly improve the capacity of nurses to organize unions of their choice through card check rules, while reducing the hospital management “vote‐no” campaigns that are highly unfavorable toward labor organizing. Unionization is a means to significantly improve conditions for nurses, who are the principle “guardians of the sick.”