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American Nurses Association collective
bargaining information

By Barbara Tone, RN
December 27, 1999

Since the turn of the century, when student nurses were used as virtual slave labor in the hospitals where they trained, many nurses have battled for a voice in their work environment and reasonable compensation for their expertise.

Formal unionization began in1946 when the American Nurses Association endorsed collective bargaining as a way to gain economic security and influence other employment issues. Its efforts were dealt a serious blow, however, when Congress passed the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, exempting charitable institutions, including nonprofit hospitals, from the 1935 Labor Relations Act. The ANA immediately began efforts to get it repealed.

A 1956 survey showed that nurse salaries, at an average of $79.50 a week, were up to $30 less than those of office, clerical, and maintenance employees. During the 1960s, nurses' salaries continued to lag, averaging $4,500 a year against $6,325 for teachers, $5,170 for secretaries, and $5,075 for factory workers.

Salary issues led to a strike of 2,000 nurses in 33 San Francisco Bay Area hospitals in 1966, a move that broke with tradition by using the strike as a tool for gaining economic objectives. The strike attracted national attention and is credited with starting the events that ultimately led to the 1974 repeal of the Taft-Hartley prohibition of collective bargaining in charitable institutions.

While the ANA paved the way in collective bargaining, by the 1970s, other unions had joined in recruiting nurses for membership. ANA affiliates still represent a majority of the estimated 375,000 unionized nurses, but virtually all major unions now represent nurses at some level.

The "corporatization" of health care that began in the 1980s is credited with renewing interest in union representation. The ANA has seen a dramatic increase in requests for collective bargaining assistance, and it recently created the United American Nurses, a separate group to support collective bargaining affiliates.

"Collective bargaining has been the vehicle that has moved the nursing profession forward," said Carolyn McCullough, MA, RN, interim director for United American Nurses. "It has allowed them a voice in professional practice, in issues of quality patient care, and given them more decision making in the workplace."