Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Kudos to HCA

From the folks at Post Business comes word that an employee union, Service Employees International Union, wants to set medical protocols that WE might have to suffer the consequences of.

Union officials say the policy [employees not inoculated against the flu must wear masks] should have been subject to negations (sic-I assume negotiations) since it affects employment terms, but HCA has declined to bargain. HCA officials said the policy is part of their comprehensive infection-control program to protect workers and patients, and they plan to continue moving forward with it.
The medical experts thinks protecting their patients from possible infection is a good idea. Who on Earth is the SEIU to make medical decisions that could endanger the rest of us? What's next? No more Hep B shots? TB test? Hair nets or rubber gloves? Just wait until the SEIU starts throwing their weight around via Obamacare. Lord have mercy on us all.

Is this the change voted for?

2 comments:

N.S. Allen said...

From the way the story reads, it sounds like the real dispute isn't over the protocols themselves but over the way in which they were implemented. The SEIU is arguing that a policy like that constitutes a "new condition of employment" and that their contract with HCA prevents the company from just making such conditions up without consulting the union.

I'm no expert on contract law, but what about that claim, precisely, do you have a problem with? Even if you oppose labor unions, the SEIU, at present, has a legally binding agreement with HCA. If HCA's actions violated that agreement, then they've opened themselves up to a lawsuit. That's not anyone throwing their weight around. It's one party to a contract expecting the pact they made to be honored by the other.

Are you saying we should only extend the rule of law, the guarantee of contracts, and the protection of the courts to groups you happen to approve of, or what?

Kay Brooks said...

So if the SEIU doesn't dispute the protocols...why the fuss? Why not agree that the health and safety of the employees AND the public demand the common sense step of masking instead of throwing their weight around and putting folks at risk because HCA didn't say "SEIU may I?"

It's just a mask. It's not their first born.