Health care costs have spun out of control. Nearly one out of five dollars spent in the U.S. goes toward health care. Average spending is more than $15,000 per person per year. That’s about six times more than we spend on groceries and is even more than we spend per person on housing.
Much of the blame focuses on skyrocketing drug prices or the crush of administrative costs ushered in due to Obamacare. But the largest and fastest-growing expense for health care providers has been labor. Since health care constitutes such a massive portion of American spending, we all pay the price. Providers shift the costs to taxpayers, patients and the insured.
While there are many factors, one key driver of increased labor costs is rarely examined: unionization. That dynamic becomes especially visible during strikes.
What happens when the people who deliver care are locked into workplace conflicts they can’t easily escape? Recent labor disputes – from Kaiser Permanente’s multi-state walkout to nurses striking in New York City and Minnesota – have demonstrated how quickly disruptions can ripple through the health care system. During strikes, hospitals must replace staff on short notice, often relying on temporary or travel nurses who command significantly higher rates. This, in turn, pushes overall costs higher.
Yet the financial impact is just part of the story.
Staffing shortages also disrupt care itself. Patients may experience longer wait times or care delivered by temp teams unfamiliar with their histories or doctors’ expectations. Emergency departments can become overwhelmed. Health care labor disputes that lead to staff shortages don’t happen in a vacuum. They cause ripple effects.
The challenge is that many health care employees think they’re stuck with union representation, even if it no longer serves their best interests. Those who’d rather address challenges directly with their employers in a nonconfrontational manner aren’t aware that there’s an alternative solution.
But there is another way. One example comes from Wellstar Health System’s Atlanta and South Fulton locations, where roughly 1,000 employees were represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Due to a prior agreement with the hospital’s former owner, workers were bound to a collective bargaining structure that limited their ability to renegotiate compensation and benefits.
According to employees involved, after the union took its share, the negotiated annual increase was a meager one percent raise. At the same time, some workers reported minimal communication from the union. Though frustrated, many employees were unfamiliar with labor law and unsure how to pursue change.
A group of employees began to seek a way out, with Wellstar employee Vince Battaglia as their leader. Battaglia had returned from deployment with the Georgia Army National Guard in Iraq, where he served as a medical platoon sergeant overseeing care for more than 1,200 soldiers. Unhappy with the union’s stranglehold on Wellstar’s employees, Battaglia began gathering others to join him in his mission to free Wellstar Atlanta and Wellstar South Fulton from the SEIU.
With outside legal and hands-on guidance provided by my organization, the group navigated union stall tactics and thorny legal requirements, which included identifying filing windows, collecting signatures, and submitting a petition to the National Labor Relations Board. The process required sustained coordination among employees, as well as careful adherence to federal labor rules.
Ultimately, a majority of participating workers at two Wellstar hospitals voted to remove the union. Following decertification, employees moved to a much more favorable compensation and benefits structure, bringing their pay into alignment with market rates.
When health care employees are stuck in the middle of adversarial, unproductive disputes between their union and their employers, everyone suffers. But when employees regain their independence, the result is a better working environment and increased employee stability—both of which are critical to keeping health care costs in check and quality high. That’s not just good news for our care providers. It’s good news for all of us.
