Once accustomed to a status outside the usual management-labor hierarchy, many health professionals now feel as put upon as any clock-punching worker.

Dr. John Wust does not come off as a labor agitator. A longtime obstetrician-gynecologist from Louisiana with a penchant for bow ties, Dr. Wust spent the first 15 years of his career as a partner in a small business — that is, running his own practice with colleagues.

Long after he took a position at Allina Health, a large nonprofit health care system based in Minnesota, in 2009, he did not see himself as the kind of employee who might benefit from collective bargaining.

But that changed in the months leading up to March, when his group of more than 100 doctors at an Allina hospital near Minneapolis voted to unionize. Dr. Wust, who has spoken with colleagues about the potential benefits of a union, said doctors were at a loss on how to ease their unsustainable workload because they had less input at the hospital than ever before.

“The way the system is going, I didn’t see any other solution legally available to us,” Dr. Wust said.

  • @AlecSadler
    0•7 months ago

    How does that work for smaller businesses? Legit asking.

    I’m pro-union, but with a whopping…7 employees on good day, I’m struggling to see how bringing in a union would help without having massive overhead cost due to the lack of quantity being paid in.

    My company already pays as much as it can back to the employees (I am the lowest paid employee, as the owner, at what amounts to a $1 salary), we pay as much as we can afford towards health benefits, we reimburse a portion of home internet and cell, and we do a lot that results in free meals and other gifts for employees.

    That said, I wouldn’t be opposed to a union if it improved morale, but I am just struggling to understand where they would add the best value for the cost. I don’t want my employees to suffer, but frankly if union dues cost like…I don’t know, $3500/mo, I’d much rather just split that money across the employees to pocket on their own.

    edit: To the people down voting, I would legitimately love to hear why. And am looking for feedback on how you think I should fix the situation.

    • @[email protected]
      1•7 months ago

      With a smaller business yeah you are right as long as the business is paying what it can then no a union is probably not a good idea. As long as the owners are willing to up the pay as far as they reasonably can then the union dues just take from the employee. But I was talking about in general unions are good.

      • @AlecSadler
        1•7 months ago

        Every penny goes to the employees, I pay myself $1 and nothing more, no distributions, no bonuses, no private stock, nothing. During peak COVID I had to pay wages and benefits out of pocket since we were closed.

        At the end of the day I just do the bookkeeping and permits/license paperwork and crap. I’m not doing any of the actual work. So I shouldn’t really be paid.