Pressing its case to Kaiser workers to abandon the SEIU, the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) has established a new website urging employees to vote in its favor in the representation election being conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The web site, www.kaisercoworkers.org, purports to answer questions by employees voting in the… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: September 2010
Minnesota Hospitals, Nurses Reach Compromise on Staffing Issues in New Contract
Fixed nurse-to-patient staffing ratios have been an increasingly contentious issue between nurses unions and hospitals. Most recently the issue played out during negotiations between two Duluth, Minnesota hospitals and the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA). Ninety-six percent of the 400 MNA nurses working at St. Luke’s Hospital voted on September 8, 2010 to ratify a three-year… Continue Reading
$50 Million Settlement of Class Action Alleging Understaffing by California Nursing Home Operator
In another illustration of the risk and proliferation of class action lawsuits against healthcare employers, Skilled Healthcare Group, Inc. has agreed to pay $50 million to settle a claim alleging understaffing at its facilities. Skilled Healthcare Group operates 22 assisted-living facilities in California. State law requires such facilities maintain staffing levels of 3.2 nursing hours… Continue Reading
Automatic Meal Deduction Case Survives Motion to Dismiss
In the most recent decision in the rash of wage and hour class and collective actions against healthcare employers relating to the “automatic deduction” of meal periods from pay, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois has denied a nursing home’s motion to dismiss the complaint. In Chastity L. King v. Heritage… Continue Reading
Kaiser Workers to Begin Mail Ballot Election
After more than a year of delays, and a public campaign filled with bitter recriminations and high stakes legal maneuvers, beginning September 13, 45,000 Kaiser workers will start the process of choosing whether to remain represented by the SEIU-United Health Care Workers-West (SEIU-UHW) or join its rival, National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW). The vote… Continue Reading