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South Shore Hospital RNs Appeal to Weymouth Town
Council for Support
In Response, Weymouth Town Council Votes Unanimously
To Reaffirm a Resolution Supporting Employees Right to Organize
a Union in an Environment Free From Intimidation.
Council Mailed Resolution with Cover Letter
to South Shore Administration
- Nurses Seeking Union Representation Asked
for the Support In Light of Recent Incidents of Intimidation
by Managers and the Hospital's Hiring of Union-Busting Firm
The registered nurses of South Shore Hospital in Weymouth,
who are seeking to unionize through representation by the Massachusetts
Nurses Association (MNA), continue to build support for their effort
within the Weymouth community as the hospital administration steps
up its efforts to stall the process and prevent a successful vote.
On Monday, the Weymouth Town Council voted unanimously to reaffirm
a resolution passed last February, which calls upon employers to
allow employees the right to organize a union in an environment
"free from intimidation and coercion by their employer." In
addition to reaffirming the resolution, the Council also agreed
to send the resolution to the management of South Shore Hospital
with a cover letter explaining their position. The
letter, signed by Council Vice President John F. Carey, and resolution
were mailed on Oct. 3, 2000.
The issue was raised at Monday's City Council meeting by Suzanne
Ames and Eileen Mann, two South Shore Hospital registered nurses
who are among those leading the effort to organize a union at the
hospital. The nurses and the MNA report that incidents have
occurred where certain managers have harassed employees who are
supporting the union. They also point to the hospital's hiring of
a high-priced union-busting firm as evidence of the facility's anti-union
bias.
According to Ames, "We have great concern about the efforts now
be exerted by management to stifle a fair and free process for a
union election. Nurses are being flooded with misinformation,
which we believe is coming from a union-busting firm hired by the
hospital to keep South Shore Hospital free of collective bargaining.
These firms are notorious for engaging in a number of questionable
and coercive
practices to dissuade employees from forming a union. We are
reaching out the community, including our City Council, to alert
them of this development and to seek their support in exerting pressure
on the hospital to conduct this campaign in an open and honest manner."
The registered nurses of South Shore Hospital filed a petition
on August 7 with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) seeking
an election for union representation by the Massachusetts Nurses
Association (MNA). Since that time, hearings have been concluded
before the NLRB to determine the scope of the proposed bargaining
unit. The nurses are seeking an election for a bargaining
unit comprising the 840 nurses at South Shore Hospital, which were
the only nurses engaged in the organizing drive by the MNA.
The hospital, in an attempt to stall the election, and compromise
its success, has argued that the election should include the nurses
who work at the South Shore VNA, a home care agency affiliated with
the hospital. The MNA has argued that these nurses did not
seek union representation by the MNA and were never included in
the campaign to organize nurses at the facility.
"Their attempt to include the home care nurses has nothing to do
with their wish to expand the option of collective bargaining to
these nurses, and everything to do with a concerted effort to do
whatever they can to stall this process and thwart a successful
vote," said Eileen Norton, MNA union organizer who is working with
the South Shore nurses in their campaign. "This is typical
of the tactics employed by anti-union consulting firms."
The NLRB is expected to rule on the scope of the bargaining unit
within the next three weeks, and will set an election date another
three weeks following that decision.
The MNA, which represents more than 17,000 nurses working in more
than 80 health care facilities in Massachusetts, represents nurses
at nearly every hospital on the South Shore including Brockton Hospital,
Good Samaritan Medical Center of Brockton, Quincy Medical Center,
Jordan Hospital in Plymouth, Morton Hospital in Taunton, Falmouth
Hospital and Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis.
Over the last several months, the MNA began working with the nurses
at South Shore Hospital to organize a union at the Weymouth-based
facility. There are approximately 840 nurses eligible for
union representation at South Shore Hospital. This effort
culminated in August when a majority of the registered nurses at
the hospital signed an open petition calling for recognition of
the MNA as their collective bargaining agent. On Friday, August
4, 2000, a delegation of 12 nurses from the South Shore nurses'
organizing committee hand-delivered a written request for a process
of voluntary recognition of the nurses' union to David Hannan, CEO
of South Shore Hospital. The hospital has refused to grant voluntary
recognition and has requested the nurses seek an election through
the NLRB.
"The nurses at South Shore Hospital are seeking to form a union
to have a voice in all decisions that affect our practice and the
care of our patients," said Diane Brady, a nurse in the hospital's
acute care rehabilitation unit. "We want the right to
have a seat at the table with management to have a real say about
all issues that impact us professionally. This includes decisions
about staffing, working conditions, pay and benefits so that we
can attract and retain the staff this facility needs to fulfill
its mission as a first rate health care provider."
Click here to view a copy of the Townn
Council letter to SS Admin
Click here to view Resolve No. 00 012
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