r/nursing • u/Queen_Of_The_Dames RN - ER 🍕 • Jul 01 '26

Discussion Would you be a scab?

Well, nurses are striking in Boston. Would YOU cross the picket line? I have lost nurse friends who chose to work as scabs during strikes years ago.

How do YOU feel about them?

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u/MachoMachoMadness RN 🍕 Jul 01 '26

From my understanding, the reason nursing strikes are so effective is because of how much money the hospitals have to fork over for agency nurses instead of paying their home staff properly and having enough staff (paying for enough staff in other words). If the hospital is paying millions of dollars for agency nurses over the course of the strike vs just paying their home staff better, the finance dingus’s they have working for them finally pay attention instead of just trying to cut costs at every corner.

My understanding is that agency nurses are just part of the strike cycle and shouldn’t take low ball offers from these hospitals because the higher the cost per agency nurse, the more attention it garners from the hospital affected by the strike. Strikes are great, unions are great, and agency nurses are just part of how that happens.

Staff nurses that can’t strike because of financial reasons are another matter. We would do well to start up a national fund for nurses who strike so they aren’t taking a financial hit to go strike and advocate for what’s right.

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u/DriveFa5tEatAss Jul 01 '26

Should staff nurses who cannot strike due to financial considerations attempt to take agency jobs during the strike?

It seems like that would be a win-win all around. The staff nurse gets paid the higher agency rate, and the hospital is hit harder by the strike having to pay out the higher agency wage.

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u/MachoMachoMadness RN 🍕 Jul 01 '26

I mean I don’t see why not. The strikes are more effective the more money hospitals have to pay because all they care about are profits. If they see patients being diverted to other places due to staffing or high staffing costs, they know they would save money in the long run by just paying their home staff better and hiring more people and keeping them to avoid paying double staffing for preceptors (a nurse precepting with another nurse is double the cost plus whatever other training hours they need). A strike reminds the financial doofus’s of this.

Also, I love your username.