By George O’Brien Tenet Healthcare has reportedly reached a new four-year labor agreement with the union that represents 2,700 registered nurses at six Tenet hospitals in California. The California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) has scheduled ratification votes on the tentative deal for March 9 and March 12, according to an announcement from the union. The… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Labor Relations
Subscribe to Labor Relations RSS FeedFlorida Healthcare Providers See Dramatic Rise in Organizing Activity
By Micah Heilbrun Traditionally, public opinion and worker sentiment made labor organizing an uphill struggle in Florida, but 2011 saw a significant increase in the numbers of newly-unionized healthcare workers. The gains were made by two unions in particular: (1) National Nurses United (NNU) reported that it enrolled 5,000 Florida nurses during 2011; and (2) the… Continue Reading
Another One-Day Strike Against Kaiser Permanente in California
By Carie A. Torrence On January 31, 2012, the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) in California engaged in a state-wide, one-day strike against Kaiser Permanente, protesting staffing deficiencies and proposed reductions in health care and retirement benefits. The NUHW represents licensed social workers, psychologists, emergency mental health workers and family counselors. Kaiser and the NUHW have… Continue Reading
University of Illinois Medical Center Nurses Ratify Contract with Staffing Language and Bonus Program
By Carie A. Torrence Nurses at the University of Illinois Medical Center (the “Medical Center”) overwhelmingly voted to ratify a new three-year contract covering more than 1,000 nurses represented by the Illinois Nurses Association (the “Union”). The contract includes enhanced staffing language, a bonus program and wage increases of up to 17.85% over the three-year… Continue Reading
NLRB Ruling Puts Arbitration Agreements with Class Action Waivers in Question
By Terrence Murphy In D.R. Horton, Inc., the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) last week ruled that arbitration agreements imposed as a condition of employment prohibiting employees from filing class action claims violate the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). It found that filing a class or collective action claim is protected activity under Section 7 of… Continue Reading
New York Presbyterian Hospital and Nurses Agreement Continues Health Benefits Unchanged Despite Contrary Arbitration Decision
By Bert Pogrebin In what a spokesperson for the New York State Nurses Association (“NYSNA” or union) called a model for other New York City hospital contract negotiations, the NYSNA recently reached a four-year agreement with New York Presbyterian Hospital that includes an agreement to continue health benefits unchanged without employee contributions. This part of… Continue Reading
ALJ Again Rules in Favor of Hospital in Closely Watched Flu Shot Case
By Carie Torrence and Sarah Green As reported in this blog, the National Labor Relations Board recently reversed a 2006 administrative law judge (ALJ) decision that Virginia Mason Hospital was not required to bargain with the union over a flu prevention policy that required nurses to wear a facemask or take anti-viral medication, rejecting the… Continue Reading
Ninth Circuit Affirms Injunction Requiring New Hospital Owners to Recognize and Bargain with Prior CNA Bargaining Unit
By Carie Torrence The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that a district court did not abuse its discretion by issuing an injunction requiring the new owners of a community hospital to bargain with the California Nurses Association (CNA), which represented the majority of nurses employed under the previous ownership. Small v. Avanti Health… Continue Reading
Unionized Hospitals Must Tread Carefully Before Implementing Communicable Disease Policies
By Jennifer Mora Recently, in Virginia Mason Hospital, 357 NLRB No. 53, the National Labor Relations Board considered whether a Seattle hospital violated its duty to bargain under the National Labor Relations Act when it implemented a flu-prevention policy that required nurses to wear a mask if they refused to be immunized against influenza. In doing so, the… Continue Reading
Healthcare Unions Plan Major California Strike
Two of the largest California-based unions representing employees in the healthcare industry are moving closer to engaging in a large-scale, statewide strike against hospitals run by both Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health. While both the the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) and the California Nurses Association (CNA)/ National Nurses United (NNU) have held individual… Continue Reading
Hospital Lawfully Prohibited Pro-Union “Inflammatory” Buttons
By Jennifer L. Mora On August 26, 2011, a National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge ruled in Columbia Memorial Hospital that a Hudson, New York hospital did not violate the National Labor Relations Act when it prohibited employees from wearing “inflammatory” buttons while the hospital was negotiating with SEIU for a collective bargaining agreement. Although… Continue Reading
NLRB Paves Way for Unions to Organize Long-Term Care Facilities
By Carie Torrence Marking the end of Chairman Liebman’s tenure, the National Labor Relations Board issued three significant decisions reversing long-standing Board precedent. In Specialty Healthcare and Rehabilitation Centers of Mobile, a decision of particular importance to long-term care and other non-acute healthcare facilities, the Board paved the way for the proliferation of bargaining units… Continue Reading
SEIU and NUHW Square Off Over Scheduling of Kaiser Election
by Brady Mitchell The Service Employees International Union, United Healthcare Workers-West (SEIU-UHW) is pressing federal officials to promptly schedule a vote in a representation election concerning workers at Kaiser Permanente. The National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), the other union on the ballot, is fighting back to prevent the election from being held on an… Continue Reading
NLRB: Employees Failing to Notify Home Health Care Employer They Were Participating in Strike Could Not Be Disciplined
by Jeffrey M. Place The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or “the Act”) requires unions representing employees in the health care industry to provide written notice to the employer ten days prior to any strike. When a union provides the required notice, employers are permitted to poll employees to determine whether they plan to participate… Continue Reading
The DC Circuit Rejects Board Ruling That Hospital’s Lawful Conduct Established Discrimination
By Fred Miner The National Labor Relations Board’s recent expansive view of employee rights is not news. What is news is the current Board majority’s willingness to hold employers liable for conduct that, on its face, does not infringe any rights protected by federal labor law. Some recent cases have raised the question whether an… Continue Reading
NLRB Affirms Broad Order to Produce Confidential Hospital Records
In a case of particular importance to health care providers, the NLRB concluded that a hospital’s statutorily-supported confidentiality interest in accident reports did not outweigh the union’s interest in seeking disclosure. In Kaleida Health Inc., 356 NLRB No. 171 (2011), in response to an employee’s termination for failure to document a patient fall, the union propounded… Continue Reading
The View From the Front Lines – Negotiators Who Averted Strikes for two Boston Hospitals Talk About Staffing Ratios and Strategy
Two of the Boston area’s major medical centers were on the brink of nursing strikes this month, following protracted collective bargaining sessions between the hospitals and their nurses’ union, the Massachusetts Nursing Association (MNA), an affiliate of the National Nurses Union (NNU). Although the union filed legally required 10-day strike notices at both hospitals, the… Continue Reading
NUHW and SEIU split elections at California hospitals
In the latest clashes between SEIU and NUHW, the unions split election results at two Sutter Health-affiliated hospitals. The election results, however, are far from final. In one hotly contested election, NUHW defeated SEIU at California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC), one of California’s largest private, not-for-profit, teaching medical centers. In a separate election at CPMC’s… Continue Reading
NLRB Issues Complaint Against Union For Unilaterally Adding Weingarten Rights Language to CBA
The inclusion of Weingarten rights on the back cover of collective bargaining agreements is a longstanding practice followed by many unions. But a complaint (pdf) recently issued by the NLRB calls into question the legality of that practice if the union acts unilaterally. Region 31 of the NLRB filed the complaint against the California Nurses… Continue Reading
Board Rules Wage Increases in Contract With Defeated Incumbent Union Must Be Paid
The latest skirmish in the battle between NUHW and SEIU-UHW was decided by the NLRB in Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, 356 NLRB No. 106 (March 2011), and the result is that the employer must abide by the terms of the contract, including wage increases, agreed to between the employer and a defeated incumbent union. In a January… Continue Reading
House Subcommittee Addresses Direction of the NLRB
Healthcare employers are watching with particular attention the recent decisions and proposed rules of the National Labor Relations Board with respect to union organizing, employees’ section 7 rights, and the breadth of protected activity in the workplace. The House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions held a hearing on Friday to discuss emerging trends at the… Continue Reading
Massachusetts Nurses Association Pushes Bills to Impose Staffing Ratios and Ban Mandatory Overtime
On January 19, 2011, the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) held a press conference to announce its goals of seeing the Patient Safety Act re-filed and a new state bill filed to ban mandatory overtime in hospitals. The MNA, a founding member of National Nurses United (NNU), is calling on Massachusetts legislators to sponsor and ultimately… Continue Reading
Despite Union’s Failure to Provide Notice of Picketing, Board Rules Employee Picketing Activity is Protected
In a recent case affecting health care employers uniquely, the NLRB decided in Correctional Medical Services, Inc., 356 NLRB No. 48, that employees’ picketing was protected activity, despite the fact that the union committed an unfair labor practice by not giving proper notice of picketing. In doing so, the Board reversed its earlier ruling in… Continue Reading
Massachusetts Hospital and Nurses Union Establish Defined-Benefit Pension Plan
On October 29, the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) and Caritas Christi Health Care announced the ratification of a new agreement covering almost 1700 registered nurses working at four Caritas hospitals in Dorchester, Brockton, Norwood and Brighton, Massachusetts. Most notably, the new agreement calls for the creation of a multiemployer defined-benefit pension plan, called the Nurses… Continue Reading