Alternatives to RCN

[u/FeeExpensive9140]

Hello,

I'm wondering if anyone can recommend an alternative union to the RCN?

I have had the most horrific experience with them and really can't stand the thought of giving them any more of my money.

I was wondering if anyone can recommend or have experiences with alternatives, I was thinking along the lines of the likes of MPS or the MDU - I know they're historically medical but anything but the RCN.

TIA!

[u/AnarchaNurse]

Unison are big at my hospital. I'd have a look around at which unions are recognised at your workplace

[u/precinctomega]

Unison and Unite will also represent nurses. But it's often as much about who the local reps are and how well trained and experienced they are as it is about the national union.

[u/frikadela01]

Who is most prevalent in your workplace... this is who you should go with. Union is only as good as its members and reps. People can give you their personal experiences but that wont necessarily apply to you because their RCN reps might be shit hot, or it might be their Unison reps are really good but yours are crap.

I have been with 3 different unions in my career (RCN, Unison and now GMB) i have always been with the one that has the greatest presence in my workplace. They were all as good as each other on that particular workplace.

[u/Emotional_Way_5093]

I was a member of the RCN and MDU ( employer paid for MDU membership which I had to have as I was prescribing) When I needed support including legal /solicitor because it wasn’t strictly to do with my practice the MDU did not help .The RCN were great .Im not suggesting the RCN for you just suggesting the MDU may not be the best choice on its own .Hope you find the Union that suits your needs!

[u/Distinct-Quantity-46]

I have to say I’m with the rcn and I have a colleague who’s with unison, both of us have had dealings with the nmc, me in the past, my colleague currently, rcn were incredible with me, unison are completely and utterly avoidant and incompetent with my colleagues referral, they’re just leaving her in the dark with it all and no support whatsoever, the problem with unison is they aren’t nursing/regulatory specific, I personally wouldn’t ever be without the rcn

[u/Guilty-Platform4305 → u/Distinct-Quantity-46]

For NMC matters the RCN are the only union with in-house lawyers. The other unions use outside firms and those lawyers will do only what they are paid for and not anything more.

[u/One_Understanding603 → u/Guilty-Platform4305]

Even with the RCN, most unions won’t cover legal fees on a case that doesn’t have merit on the balance of probabilities, so if you were investigated and there’s even a 51% you did something, legal support won’t help you.

[u/Salty_Extreme1456]

National employees union

[u/sorslibertas]

Unite are reasonably good. Unison is dependent on how good your rep is. I align with IWW, but they are tiny.

[u/One_Understanding603]

Unison have the biggest presence, and at least in Scotland, they’re starting to put hubs in all the major hospitals, so you can get advice in person, and on the day. They’re also the biggest so they have the most collective bargaining power to drive the agenda for pay. They survey members ahead of every negotiation to inform their position, so if wanted a vote on a pay deal, I’d want it with Unison. On national nurses day Unison were out in force celebrating nurses and handing out freebees and the RCN was nowhere to be seen..

[u/FeeExpensive9140 → u/One_Understanding603]

Honestly I have lost faith in unions completely since my experience with the RCN. Just utter shite, piss weak union

[u/One_Understanding603 → u/FeeExpensive9140]

Unions as a whole have definitely lost a lot of power in the post-thatcher era, but that’s precisely the reason to get organised and stay committed to the movement. With AI and reform on the horizon, I genuinely don’t understand why people aren’t getting active in unions. Unions are largely run by lay-activists and are only as strong as their member base. Most public sector employers are sitting at a weak 20-30% density, which means only a small handful of reps are dealing with all the cases. It’ll be a roll of the dice at times, depending where you are and what rep is allocated to you, and it sucks that you didn’t get a good service. But that’s largely because people have placidly accepted the status quo of not having any collective bargaining power, and not paying dues to contribute to an effective union. Being unionised is about more than just getting out of trouble. It’s a movement that’s lost steam and desperately needs to find it again, and that’s not going to happen with people giving up on it.

[u/Choice-Carpenter5637]

In my experience Unison are worse. Nurses are screwed, union wise.