@#8 ... Labor disputes always suck. ...
I do not disagree.
They usually are the symptom of management abusing workers.
... This is particularly bad because this will adversely affect administering health care in NYC. ...
Yup. And hopefully, the healthcare management in NYC realize that and come to terms with the nurses quickly.
I will note (again) that I once worked for a privately-owned company. The owners of that company were quite good to the employees, sharing in the wealth of their efforts.
30% bonuses to all employees each year were not uncommon.
At one point, after a 40% bonus year, the owners said that the bonuses were becoming too high.
So every employees' salary was increased by 20% (in addition to the usual annual salary increase due to personnel performance) in order to lower the percentage of the annual bonus.
Then, at one point, a union arrived on the site, and started to try to recruit employees to join the union to fight against the evil managers.
The employees basically told those agitators to f--- off.
Long story short (probably too late for that, but here goes ...) if management treats employees well, the employees know that.
When management does not treat employees well, the employees also know that.
And, fwiw, I will say, unequivocally, that the owners of that private company knew how to motivate employees. For starters, we were not viewed as employees, but more as partners in the business.
Hi RedLightRobot:
I was remiss in my hasty reply to you. This goes without saying, but any book by John Steinbeck or Ernest Hemingway are worth re-reading.
The plays and works of Bernard Shaw and Graham Greene are also fine re-reads.
For entertaining spy stories, I suggest Somerset Maugham and his "Ashenden" canon.
Two books which never leave my home and to which I refer to regularly: