Collective bargaining for allied health professionals.

With the advent of union organizing drives in the nation's health care facilities, collective bargaining has become an integral part of this profession. This article defines three issues critical to collective bargaining in the allied health professions. The first is the professionalization and sociological attitudinal debate between labor unions and professional associations. Conflicts between professionalism and unionization are discussed with emphasis on self-regulation, the union's leveling process, governance, and the issue of dual allegiance. The second issue is the legal environment surrounding health care collective bargaining. Jurisdictional issues and applicable laws therein are examined, and the role of the NLRB and its guidelines and pertinent court cases are discussed. Third, the article examines labor-management relations within the context of the need for substantial alteration and modification of classical industrial relations models that have been superimposed onto health care facilities.