Category
Hospital staffing, home care, healthcare access, and occupational health.
30 articles
Across U.S. hospitals, nursing homes, and home care agencies, newly organized worker groups are declining affiliation with established national unions at a growing rate, opting instead to form independent unions with full local union autonomy over dues, governance, and contract negotiations.
"I told the organizer about the rats in the supply closet, and she immediately started talking about filing an OSHA complaint," said Maria, a certified nursing assistant at a long-term care facility outside Cleveland. "But that wasn't what I needed.
Every contract negotiation I've watched in the past decade hits the same wall. Management offers a modest wage increase, then claws it all back by shifting more healthcare costs onto workers. The raise vanishes into higher deductibles and co-pays, and everybody walks away frustrated.
Every major contract negotiation in America eventually turns into a healthcare fight. I've watched this pattern repeat for years across industries: union reps sit down at the bargaining table prepared to push for wages, better scheduling, safer conditions.
Since 2005, 193 rural hospitals have shut their doors across the United States. That number alone should alarm you. But here's the part that keeps me up at night: over 700 additional rural hospitals are at financial risk right now, according to analysis from the Chartis Group.
Every additional patient added to a nurse's workload raises the odds of someone dying by 12 to 16 percent. Not the odds of a longer stay. Not the odds of a billing error. The odds of *death*.
