Why I Joined the Union

I'll be upfront - I've never liked unions. I fully accept and respect their role in history and how important they were in the early days of the Industrial Revolution, when workers were treated in nothing less than appalling conditions. But I was raised on stories of how unions were corrupt, on how they they got high wages for what were not high skilled jobs, and how they were no longer needed. I will not comment on the rightness or wrongness of these beliefs, only that they obviously influenced how I thought.

I never really considered joining the nurses union when I lived in Massachusetts. The hospital I ended up working for did not have a large union presence, and while I applauded their general ideas and goals, I did not feel it applied to me. My hospital had very good rates of pay, they did not practice "mandatory overtime", their nurse:patient ratio was good, my nurse manager would stick up for her staff (and still does) and I could advocate for myself if I had to. I did not need a union.

When I worked for The Large Grocery Store That Used To Employ Me, I was encouraged to join the union. My wages were determined by the Enterprise Bargaining Agreement, which was negotiated by the union. They would look out for me, advocate for me, blah blah blah... I was not interested. I was putting boxes on a shelf, for heaven's sake. With my background of US minimum wage, what I was being paid for doing such a job was incredible. The job did not mean so much to me that if I was incredibly pressured to do something I did not think was right then I would walk away. Strike? Why? Again, the job did not mean that much to me.

But now I work for The Large Public Hospital That Employs Me. Please note the word 'Public'. I work for the state government, Queensland Health. This is not just a job, this is my career. I have a cynical distrust of any government, no matter which party is in power. The state of Queensland Health isn't exactly, well, healthy. Do a Google search and see the carnage for yourself. Google Jayant Patel, Emergency Room wait times, deaths... It ain't pretty. I had a lot of concerns taking a position in the public sector, but in the end the benefits and, most importantly patient rations, won out. But I started to get an inkling I would need someone to watch my back. After all, my ultimate boss might not care so much as my last one.

And then there was the Queensland Teachers Union. While I generally support teachers - they have one of those jobs that I would never take on - I feel that the QTU stance of trying to get such a massive pay rise for their members when so many parents don't even have jobs, or are taking pay cuts to keep the jobs they have, is just wrong. Yes the deal they're being offered will still leave them behind some of their interstate counterparts, but it's still a 4+% rise a year for 3 years. Again, many parents aren't getting anything, or are cutting their pay just to keep their job. I say take the deal, and when conditions are better you can advocate for a better deal.

Of course I have no say in the QTU - I'm not a teacher. But I am a nurse. And do I want an organization to dictate my wages without me having a say in it? What if they pulled the same thing as the QTU and I disagreed with it? If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm kinda opinionated. I want to have my say.

And it is that sentence right there that sums up why, in my third day of orientation today, I joined the Queensland Nurses Union. Why I threw a lifetime's worth of thinking and beliefs into the trash bin and signed on the dotted line. Because I won't have someone else dictating to me without me putting my two cents in.

So have I sold out? Merely changed my mind? Being selfish? Taking a new view? I don't really know. What do you think? Would you have done what I did?