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If you are so concerned that patients are being put at risk (I reference a picket sign I saw today), then why would you strike and walk out, clearly putting them at even greater risk? – Confused By Contradictory Messaging
This article appears in Mar 27 – Apr 2, 2014.
19 Comments
The hallmark of an essential service is one that can be withdrawn at the union’s whim. And you will never, ever see a tax rebate for every day that you have to go without something that you pay for. That’s called “Social Justice” Now, let’s all join hands and sing “Solidarity Forever” while someone whose pension fund is getting fatter and fatter holds up a sign that reads “Capitalism Isn’t Working”
I’d love to know Joanie’s salary, pension and perks?
All we hear about these days are huge bonus’ for corporate CEO’s and generous kickbacks for politicians and nobody says tickity-boo…but the second a union strikes they are “Greedy little commie bastards” for defending themselves and their rights. I supported the fucking bus drivers when they went on strike even though I really don’t care about bus drivers or their ‘plight’ and I support the nurses – especially when we have a government that can legislate a union back to work like it’s the mid 19th century and collective bargaining never existed.
Access to healthcare in this country is a human right. If the nurses go on an illegal walkout leaving the hospitals at anything less than a 90% staffing rate, every single one of them should be fired!!!! I say fire every single nurse that decided not to go to work yesterday and replace them with nurses that will fulfill their duties. No pension, no severance pay, FIRED. They acted on bad advice and, put peoples lives at risk leaving a 30% staffing deficiency. Peoples surgeries were cancelled, FFS. How do you know that some of those people scheduled for surgeries weren’t coming from the farthest reaches of the province on their own dime, or, how long they have been waiting? Some of those poor people may have been waiting for months, even years!!!!
Absofuckinglutely shameful, and they can show up for work “on their next scheduled shift” like nothing happened!!! And they call themselves professional…
I don’t think they should strike. Its not fair to the people who need them. They choose this job so they can do the job while fighting for more nurses.
“All we hear about these days are huge bonus’ for corporate CEO’s and generous kickbacks for politicians and nobody says tickity-boo”
Not quite true. Such revelations in the media usually provoke a lot of on-line and water cooler invective. I believe that a lot of people no longer buy the “Unions can make a difference” bullcrap. It’s no longer a case of “Which side are you on?” It’s more a case of watching 2 venal, power hungry entities vying for as much as they can get away with.
Now I tend to think that nurses, like police officers, firefighters and E.M.T.s probably deserve what they are asking for, most of the time. But when I see Joanie’s porcine phiz on the telly, I know it’s fuck all to do with patient care and more about sucking up more union dues.
BF, her salary is $200,000+. And she rules from her $15M palace in Burnside. But don’t fret for poor Joan if the nurses strike, she’ll still get her full pay. As for perks? I’m too afraid to ask. And of course this is all paid with by taxpayer dollars.
What’s that, taxpayer’s dollars? No, it paid for with union dues. True, but nurses are paid with taxpayers dollars, ergo we fund the union.
Forget Joan Jessome for a second – it’s easy to target someone like that because, yes, she is doing quite well for herself and all the points you’ve made about her are completely valid. Think about the nurses who are there everyday rain or shine, working the long hours that they do. They are not asking for a rate increase, they are asking for more nurses/a better patient to nurse ratio from what I understand. They are paid well, this is true, but I feel like they truly earn that money (unlike bus drivers complaining about better rates for example). I’ve been in the hospital a few times for extended visits and the nurses really are the back-bone of that operation. When you are in the hospital you are in a very vulnerable place in your life. They work long hours and always put the patient first – ahead of themselves often times. I don’t think they made the decision to strike lightly as you may be able to claim is the case with other unions. And I don’t think their right to strike and collectively bargain should be stripped away from them and I certainly don’t like the seedy way that it took place.
I agree , it’s as easy to target Joan as it is to aim at C.E.O.s with their lavish bonuses. It’s low hanging fruit and they are equally contemptible because they are nothing more than opposite sides of the same cheap coin. And as valuable as nurses are, it’s not too hard to extrapolate that tying manpower ratios to an aging populace that will be making increased demands on the health care system is going to add up to increased membership in N.S.G.E.U. and more money in the bank account. The fact that even a nominally centrist party like McNeil’s Liberals can capitalize on increased public dissatisfaction with unions, especially Public Sector unions, speaks volumes about the extent to which those same unions have self-entitled themselves into irrelevance.
It is a way for Joan to get more union dues plain and simple. She doesn’t care about patients or nurses, she is using them.
Patient ratios haven’t worked elsewhere. Yes some departments are short and I bet some departments have more. It is all about allocation.
And bottom line is the taxpayer is BROKE.
I’m sorry but, this recycled almost to the point of redundancy PR campaign, used by every public service union somehow still strikes fear into the general populace with terms like “patient safety” every time. They’re all the same, the homecare workers, prison guards, police unions, fire fighters, EMT’s, etc… it’s the same schtick. It’s all about expanding membership with made up shit like “X” to “Y” ratios, which are nothing but arbitrary numbers. This is nothing but the NSGEU forcing a minimum number of nurses per patient into their contract wording, so the union can expand their membership and be guaranteed 100% of their membership whether the public can afford them or not. It’s about an ever increasing number of members doing less for more, not about “patient safety”.
Just listen to Joan say “we changed the wording in the contract as a last effort to strike a deal and the employer won’t negotiate”, of course she changed the wording but, as long as there is a finite ratio of X to Y (which is an arbitrary number that will never go down but, you can be guaranteed that minimum will continue to rise) , the government ain’t signing off on it. I say good on them!!!! The government should not be giving unions guaranteed memberships, it’s not in our best interest being a poor ass province.
Once the government has broken the backs of, and eviscerated public sympathy, for the bed pan jockeys, I hope they turn their attention to the other sacred cow, no pun intended, the teachers.
THE OTHER SACRED COW
Yes, you’re absolutely right. Once the government has broken the backs of the “bed pan jockeys,” they should turn their attention on the slothful “pencil pushers.” Crush the “intellectuals!” Let’s have a book burning!
What is required now is another fascist revolution! Down with the commie unions! It’s time to put on the armbands again and break a few heads! The Storm Troopers are ready, waiting in the side-streets
A pleasure as always.
Cheerio!
Well this so called sacred cow, human right, or whatever, known as the Canadian Health System has been unsustainable for decades and the main reason why provinces and the Feds are so deep in debt.
Remember now. .. they are striking to ensure the safety of their patients… hmmmmm?!
Ummm… By not going to work and leaving patients to rely on their own means, they ensure the safety of their patients…. hmmmm?!
Funny-no matter now I phrase it, I still can’t make sense of the logic. Maybe people need to die before it comes obvious?
It’s about $$$; always is.
Last year, nurses got their knuckles rapped for excessive overtime. One nurse in CB pulled in over 200k:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1145588-ns-vows-to-probe-nurses-overtime
Using the guise of public safety and fighting to mandate patient ratios is simply their tactic to get back their OT. It’s the only card they can play to attempt to get public opinion on their side.
I tried telling the nurse about my depressive state, but she just checked my ears for gunk.
Break out the bubble…. no time for catching anything now.
http://smurk.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/b…
I’ve finally discovered the 100% true definition of irony; Graham Steele as a Political Commentator on CBC discussing the Liberal Budget.