----- Original Message -----
From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Curious what you are noting here?
>
>Nathan Newman
-I think Michael is referring to the problems of under-staffing &
-mandatory overtime:
But the need for mandatory overtime to deal with under-staffing is exactly
what is giving nursing unions strength. Because nursing is a credentialled
profession and unions cannot force new hires that don't exist (unlike say in
autowork), mandatory overtime is an inevitable result.
That is the short-term issue- the question is the long-term trend and that
is looking better for nurses, although hospitals are trying to divide the
workforce, split work off to lower-paid job descriptions, etc. But the
nursing unions are getting much more radical- with independent unions like
the Cal Nurses Association working with the MA and PA nursing associations
on a new national union, while even the stodgy American Nurses Association
is affiliating with the AFL-CIO after years of avoiding being seen as too
much of a union (interesting politics in that division, as well as with
SEIU).
-- Nathan Newman
