Working in health care for profit sucks!

There is a huge contract negotiation going on right now and I am scared. Really, honestly scared. If we vote 'yes' our house will be taking a 400$/month pay cut in the form of paying for increased insurance premium burden passed on by our employers who made over 4million dollars in PURE PROFIT last year. If we vote 'yes' we will not have a pay increase, even for cost of living adjustment for 2 years. If we vote 'yes' we no longer get what the company calls our lunch break but what is really used (if the timing works out to even GET one) for restocking, refueling and finishing up paper work just to be able to clock out on time, never mind "Lunch". So, as you can see voting 'yes' is pretty damned unattractive.

If we vote 'no' and there is a majority that also votes no we go back to the negotiating table. This is frightening because it has been said by those who were in on the negotiations that this is a one time offer to even KEEP the health plans we have at all instead of pushing us all onto a new very high (3k) deductible plan immediately as of 1/1/12. So, they say that if we vote 'no' we need to be ready to strike to get the company to give us what we want. I don't think I have an overwhelming majority of co-workers willing to go that far. People are afraid. I don't blame them. If we don't win and we are pushed to the new plan my midwives are no longer covered. My home birth is no longer covered. I will have the baby in March and be responsible for the first THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS of the bill and then I will still have to pay for 20% of everything that the insurance gets billed for. This plus unpaid maternity leave will sink us as a household. I don't know what to do. I hate the company I work for, for putting me in this kind of position. I hate feeling like they want to make more money so they are screwing my co-workers and I for everything. I hate the idea that I will be a F**CKING health care provider who will be forced to choose between a house payment or what is in the best interest of my family's health and well being. It makes me angry and frightened and sick to my stomach. I feel like the only thing to do is to get the hell out before the next contract rolls around.

I started investigating my nursing school options today....as if we can afford that either....But I'm not sure we can afford not to either....