RNs at the Memorial Hospital, Hahnemann and Home Health & Hospice Campuses of UMass/Memorial File for Election Today With NLRB

MNA and UMMHC Agree to Meet Next Week to Discuss an Expedited Election Process

More than 70% of Memorial Nurses Have Signed Union Authorization Cards

On May 16, local political, labor and community leaders joined nurses from the Massachusetts Nurses Association and the nurses at the Memorial/Hahnemann Campus of U. Mass/Memorial Health Care for a rally to support the Memorial/Hanhemann nurses' call for voluntary recognition of MNA as their union. Immediately following the rally, a delegation of the Memorial/Hahnemann organizing committee visited the office of Dr. Russo to hand-deliver a written request for a fair and legal process of voluntary recognition of a union for the registered nurses.

More than 70 % of the 800 registered nurses estimated to work at these facilities have signed union authorization cards seeking union representation by the Massachusetts Nurses Association. With 50 percent plus one vote, employees can win voluntary recognition of their bargaining unit from management.

In addition to filing for an election, the MNA has made an additional overture to the labor officials of UMMHC to seek a meeting as soon as possible to discuss the potential for a process for voluntary recognition, and barring that, a process for an expedited election, that would prevent a costly and anti-union campaign. In a telephone conversation today, UMMHC, while not agreeing to voluntary recognition, did set a meeting for next Thursday, May 24, 2001 to discuss the process for an expedited election.

"While we still believe the easiest and best solution is a card check election, similar to what was granted other unions at the facility, we are pleased that the corporation is interested in exploring an alternative to a lengthy election process," said Eileen Norton, representative from the MNA working with the organizing committee for the nurses.

By seeking voluntary recognition, the nurses would avoid the unnecessary expense and conflict that can result from a contentious union election campaign and an anti-union campaign, leaving more money available to be spent on patient care. An expedited process for an election might include an agreement to forego costly and lengthy hearings before the NLRB to determine who is eligible for representation. Both sides could meet and come to an agreement on their own as to who is eligible to vote, and could agree to an election date within a few weeks. The MNA would also seek a neutrality agreement that bars the use of anti-union consultants, who are firms that specialize in efforts to stop employees from unionizing.

A desire to have a legal right in decision-making that would improve patient care and working conditions at the facility are a key motivation for the nurses' organizing campaign at Memorial.

"We are seeking a union to have a voice in the decisions that impact our ability to practice safely and competently," said Jacqueline Brosnihan, an operating room nurse and a member of the union Organizing committee. "We want a union to give us the power to address our concerns about issues such as understaffing and mandatory overtime. Nurses also want and deserve parity in salary, benefits and working conditions with our colleagues in the Worcester area, including our colleagues on the U. Mass Medical Center Campus."

The MNA represents more than 700 nurses working at U. Mass Medical Center. In fact, last March, the MNA nurses ratified a two-year contract that included salary increases of between 12 – 25% depending on experience, as well as language that grants the nurses the right to refuse mandatory overtime, similar to the language negotiated last year by the nurses at St. Vincent Hospital/Worcester Medical Center following a historic 49-day strike over the issue. The nurses at St. Vincent Hospital are also represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association.

"Seeing what unionized nurses are able to achieve with the MNA through collective bargaining was major motivation for our drive to organize our own bargaining unit with the MNA," Brosnihan said.

With more than 20,000 members, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is a professional association and the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth. The MNA union represents more than 18,000 nurses in 85 different health care facilities. In 1998, more than 540 nurses at St. Vincent Hospital won a NLRB election for representation by the MNA. Also in 1998, the Worcester Public Health Nurses selected the MNA as their collective bargaining representative.

"Worcester has become a hotbed of union activity and concerted nurse activism," said Karen Higgins, RN, and Chair of the MNA's state union. "Our union members in Worcester are setting the standards for what empowered nurses can achieve through collective bargaining to protect their patients and to defend the practice of nurses. They are looked upon as leaders, not only in Massachusetts, but also throughout the nation. We would be proud to add the Memorial nurses and hope we can move quickly towards that end through voluntary recognition of their union."