Reference no: EM133043306

Case Study 1: The New Union Battles: Public Unions vs. Rich World Governments

While private sector unions may be rapidly declining in the United States, public sector unions are still strong ... or at least were. In 2011, public sector unions representing teachers, prison guards, police officers, railworkers, and civil servants were dealt a blow by their employers-the government. At the forefront of the battle was the issue of collective bargaining. And it began in Wisconsin.

But this is not the first time Wisconsin has been at the forefront of collective bargaining. The Wagner Act of 1934 (discussed in this chapter) did not grant public employees the right to collective bargaining. In the 1950s and 1960s public sector employees pushed for collective bargaining rights. Finally, in 1959 Wisconsin became the first state to grant this right to public employees. In a dramatic turn of events, Wisconsin is now the first to repeal collective bargaining rights for its public sector employees.

After a standoff with state Democrats and prounion demonstrators, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and the state legislature decided that public employees did not have the right to collective bargaining. This set off a chain reaction in 18 other states where they had also proposed legislation that would remove all or some collective bargaining powers from unions (e.g., Maine, Arizona, Indiana, Alaska, Michigan, and Ohio). This could potentially increase the number of states that do not allow collective bargaining to go from five (see the following map) to nearly half of the states.

Questions

1. Why were politicians in 2011 so interested in trying to repeal collective bargaining rights for public sector employees?
2. What risks does losing their collective bargaining rights hold for public employees?
3. As an elected politician charged with major cuts in your state budget, how would you negotiate with the public sector unions? As a public sector union leader, how would you negotiate with the state legislature?

Case Study 2:

How about a 900 Percent Raise?

Registered nurse Carmen Lopez wants a raise-so she's leaving Mexico and moving to California to take a job at Desert Valley Medical, a hospital near Los Angeles, where her income will increase tenfold. "I was making US$500 a month in Mexico, and in the U.S. I will be making between $25 and $28 an hour," Lopez says. Lopez, upon finishing her U.S. nursing exam, will be joining nine other Mexican nurses at Desert Valley Medical.

As U.S. baby boomers-now in their early sixties-age, the number of registered nurses in the United States is not keeping up. The U.S. government forecasts that by 2020 the demand for registered nurses will have increased by 40 percent while the number of nurses will have risen by just 6 percent. There are currently 2.2 million working nurses.

Lopez and her colleagues were recruited by MDS Global Medical Staffing in Los Angeles. Roger Viera, cofounder of MDS Global Staffing, says he and his business partner have invested $1 million, and the Mexican government added another $1 million, to open a nurse residency program in Mexico that trains and certifies nurses to work in the United States. "We only recruit qualified nurses. They must have a four-year bachelor of science degree and four years of work experience," Viera says. MDS expects to recruit from Mexico's twelve nursing schools and from Costa Rica in the near future.

MDS has also recruited Maria de la Cruz Gonzalez, who says she's excited about this opportunity to emigrate with her husband and work as a nurse in the United States. "The hospitals offer us a two-year contract where our nuclear family can come along to live with us in the U.S.," she says. MDS gives the nurses three months of paid rent and transportation, provides placement with client hospitals, and provides training in technology and language. They will be able to work in U.S. hospitals for two years under a North American Free Trade Agreement visa.

Donna Smith, chief nursing officer at Desert Valley Medical, says she is happy to have the Mexican nurses join her staff and believes that they are as qualified as U.S. nurses. But, she says, they will need more technical experience before they can go to work, since technology is different in the hospitals of Mexico. "We will provide them with extra training once they get here," she says.

Questions

1. Is recruiting nurses abroad a good idea for U.S. hospitals facing worker shortages?
2. Can you think of any cultural problems U.S. hospitals might encounter as a result?
3. What long-term recruiting measures should U.S. hospitals strive for?