As we move into the on-going battle with the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), both sides are drawing lines in the sand. An intense fight is being waged for each vote and thefight became more heated with the news that Al Franken won the Minnesota Senate race. The impact of unions in healthcare will affect everyone, no matter what industrial you work in.

Ricardo Torres – President & CEO

In Washington D.C., the Senate is trying to pass a healthcare reform bill and no one knows exactly what that will look like when it’s done. While the cost of healthcare continues to rise, the major labor unions are engaged in an intense fight with each other over new membership. Now, with the split in the AFL/CIO, there is a dramatic increase in unions raiding each other in hospitals and there has even been incidents involving physical altercations between union officials and members.

Union representation brings a heavy price tag with statistics showing that unionization can increase hospital costs by 17 to 21 percent. What most people outside the Healthcare industry don’t realize is that most hospitals only exist on a small profit margin and a unionized workforce can put hospital systems in the red. How does this affect the general public if hospitals need to scale back, make cuts or even close down?

Nurse Leader Magazine, which is the America Organization of NurseExecutives (AONE) official bi-monthly publication, has taken the challenge head-on to expose the battle within the healthcare industry with a Labor Relations special edition in the June, 2009 magazine. An article that I wrote offers unique insight into the ever increasing attack on healthcare in America.

Follow the links The Nurse Leader Article,, an insight into this struggle you shouldn’t miss.