United we stand; Divided we fall
In 1985, in Central California there was a Professional Association of Emergency Medical Care workers (I am not naming it in particular because I'm not sure how this exists today, if at all). It was an outgrowth of three years of struggle between employee associations and the management of their employer, a (now defunct) private ambulance firm. The Association did an unprecedented thing at the time; it AFFILIATED with an AFL-CIO Union.
(ASIDE: To be honest, as one of the organizers through three different mutations of the associations, the most frustrating part was realizing then [as now IMHO] most medics DO NOT see themselves as career professionals. They recognize that at any moment, they could be out of there! Longevity in the field is a distant concept.
Such things are not spoken about too much, but after 12 years of observation, I started to GET that the average medic has a hard time picturing him/herself still in the profession in 10 years; thus, in terms of investment, it's almost an unheard of concept.!)
Since I crafted the agreement, let me share a little background. I grew up in N.Y. and it was common knowledge "Unions ruined everything!" They expanded the cost of living ten-fold, they were corrupt thieves, yadda yadda yadda. But after three years of reneged contracts, the Association didn't have the clout to make anything stick with the company. So I went along with us seeking out representation.
Now in 1984 I don't think there were any EMS Unions west of the Rockies. We had no guides to follow. The issue of striking came up. At that time the Union wasn't representing any health care workers that were involved in essential (life and death) services. We needed to assure that we wouldn't get sucked in to something like, as was the practice, if the Occupational Therapists struck and get nowhere, to put on the squeeze, in the next wave, the Nurse's Aide's would walk off their jobs.
So I wrote up an Affiliation Agreement (amended in parts but finally approved mostly intact) that assured the Association was autonomous in all activities dealing with promoting paramedic services, raising money, expanding our scope and delivering quality health care to the populace in our areas. That would include a separation of us from other Union entities in the event of a strike. A "No Strike clause was essential to fulfill our duty to our public.
In essence, we paid dues to the Union to represent us in annual negotiations with the company for pay and benefits. They would provide us professional representation and, if necessary, legal representation in the event of reneged contracts.
At the time, Unions were losing ground and they were stretching their standard parameters to attract new members. As Vene said, the Air Traffic Controllers struck, and Reagan said screw the Unions and fired 'em all! So we did a first.
But you know what? Not unsurprisingly, I understand that after a couple of years, the Association lost sight of the importance of that separation! In essence, the Association seemed to have lost steam for anything having to do with actually FURTHERING the profession, which was an important part of its initial design. Once they got their pay and bennies, apathy trumped!
I put in on this thread because Union or not, medics are going to have to become willing to expand themselves so they can expand their profession.
They have to take steps to help each other prevent burnout, increase their ability to be responsive to the people who they REALLY serve; (unfortunately, not the TRULY sick and injured!) and exert a common voice of protest against exploitation and sub-standard care -- no matter who delivers it.
Underneath it all, they need to define their own curricula from basic EMT (Associates) through MICP (Bachelors), to Trauma Specialist (whatever - Master's). Get the picture?
Nurses defined their own profession, set their own standards (BOTH through education!), adapted what they became from what they REALLY did and exhibited a unified voice that said "We are worth something!" But they were not casual about it. A core group of them relentlessly kept the momentum going.
In order for a union to work, there must be unity in the workers.
