Better Pay
Florida Healthcare Union is committed to winning for our families – in the form of improved pay and benefits – for hospital workers. On average, union health care workers earn more than non-union workers. Our contracts typically include guaranteed annual raises, pay steps that reward experience and length of service, higher shift differentials, certification and specialty bonuses, and other premium pay.
Hospital union members are fighting for and winning:
Above-market salaries.
Unionized nurses consistently negotiate above-market pay scales. In fact, according to the Bureau of National Affairs, nurses who are union members earn an average 13% more than nurses who aren’t. And hospital employees who are union members earn between 13% and 37% more than those who aren’t.
Raises you can count on.
One of the advantages to a union contract is that raises are guaranteed in writing. Union-negotiated raises are not tied to arbitrary and subjective evaluations. Many union contracts call for both annual cost-of-living raises and merit pay increases and guarantee that even employees who are at the top of the scale receive a raise every year.
A pay scale that rewards experience and longevity.
Union-negotiated pay scales eliminate arbitrary disparities and inequities; everyone is covered by the same set of pay steps and criteria for advancement. Most union contracts call for step increases and/or longevity bonuses in addition to regular annual raises to ensure that staff is fairly compensated for experience and length of service.
More compensation for around-the-clock care.
On their own, hospital administrators rarely increase the differentials or premiums paid for evening or weekend work or pay for stand-by status. With a union, nurses and hospital employees negotiate improvements in shift differentials, on-call pay, and other compensation for "around-the-clock" care.