Unionize Virginia’s Worst Nursing Home Chains
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8 responses to “Unionize Virginia’s Worst Nursing Home Chains”
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Excellent article as always Capt.
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Interesting that a “right leaning” author finds value in unionizing. Seems right to me.
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When the government fails in its duty to regulate and discipline healthcare facilities in support of public safety as Virginia’s government has done, unions are the only recourse to enforce minimum standards on companies that do not care about their employees or their patients.
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I can see unions advocating for better pay and working conditions, and perhaps resulting in more applicants for the jobs and workforce stability. I remain in doubt that patient safety and care would be their top priority, and one of the worst downsides is how they protect folks who should be fired.
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Two replies:
1. As I wrote, there are potential downsides, but patient safety and care would be improved by the very increased workforce and workforce stability you acknowledge. Unless and until the government fulfills its responsibilities, there is no other viable plan to accomplish those things.
2. The professional nurses are licensed by the state, so if a nurse proves incompetent or will not do her job then the state can take licensure action regardless of any union contract.
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My mother is a resident in one of these corporately-owned, chain nursing homes. It’s fraught with all the issues you’ve covered in your articles. However, if the laborers were to unionize, what happens when they go on strike? The residents who need 24 hour, skilled nursing (such as my mother who is a quadriplegic) could be left bedridden with no care. I fear patient care will be the last priority in a unionized work force.
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Other way around.
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Your fears are generally unfounded. As I wrote, unionized nursing homes had a better patient safety record during COVID than non-union homes.
Nothing is a sure thing, but you should at least be comforted that a union workforce in a nursing home should, all other things being equal, be more stable, better staffed and better trained than a non-union one.
As important, these are not government jobs.
The government is exploited by its unions because the government negotiators have no skin in the game.
Owners of nursing homes, in contrast, if they are competent can be expected to demand better performance for higher pay in order to justify the added expense.
UPS, for example, is unionized. Its margins are higher and it is more valued (P/E) by investors than non-union FEDEX.
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