Union for us! HELP!

-jt · Feb 10, 2003

I never heard of that. As far as I know, the employees decide themselves which union they want to be in & whether the employer likes it or not doesnt have any bearing. The AFL-CIO is not a union itself. Its an organization made up of many different unions together. Some or all of the unions at your facility might be members of the AFL-CIO but they are still separate, distinct unions. Your employer cant tell you which one of them to join. If you had a legal election and your employer is refusing to recognize it, then your union must have filed unfair labor practice charges against the hospital and brought the case to the NLRB to get it to enforce the law & force the employer to recognize you. Your testimony is to prove that the election was conducted legally & this is the union that the nurses themselves want.

I cant think of any reason why the employer would have been the one to bring the case to the NLRB other than to say that the election was illegal, coerced, and invalid or to try to prove that you are not eligible to be in a union at all. They cant go to the NLRB & say "listen, we have enough unions here. We want the nurses to join one of those". It doesnt matter what the employer wants.

flowerchild · Feb 10, 2003

Thank you -jt. You are wonderful. As I read your answers, I am finding comfort in knowing the law stands behind us.

Another question for you.

The employer lumps the nurses into a large group of employees that they call service personel. All of the service personel belong to the non prof union in which they originally voted to join. (The nurses were not part of the vote) The employer thinks this service personel union is where RN's belong, we know it's their way of holding us back. Can they uphold their argument that we have been offered a union to join within the group of service personel that they classify us as and deny us the right to seperate (none of us ever joined so I don't know if seperate is the right word here) ourselves from the union already in place, and choose our own union?

-jt · Feb 11, 2003

>

Where does your employer get off making any "offer" to you about which union they want you to join? Sorry, but they dont get to have a say. Your choice is not something that they can control. They dont get asked first. Its not a negotiable thing. They arent supposed to be involved in your decision or in the process in any way. They dont get to make deals for which union you should be in. THEY GET TOLD what you have decided to do after you have done it. Their permission or approval has no place in the decision. They cant deny you the right to join any union the nurses choose to join. The federal govt already gave you the right 70 years ago. Your employer cant take it away from you.

The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 -

- established the rights of workers to join trade unions and to bargain collectively with their employers through representatives of the employees own choosing.

- "unfair practices" to be prohibited, such as the sponsoring by employers of company unions, interfering with employees' choice of bargaining representatives, and refusal to bargain with elected agents.

Now lets move to another question.....

WHY is your employer so damn afraid to have the RNs be part of the UAN anyway? Why does it want to see you in a different union? In wanting you to be in the other service union with every other worker, is it really just trying to water down your voice by getting you lost in a bargaining unit where you might be weaker as the minority? Could it be that it recognizes the strength you would have as a collective unit with the UAN? Hmmmm????

I think your employer knows that with you in the UAN, they would have to share control with strong, proactive nurses & they dont want to do that. It doesnt want you to be in any union, but since it cant stop you, its trying to persuade you to be in a different one rather than the UAN because it knows how strong you will be with the UAN by your side. I think your employer fears the power of UAN nurses and our union. And I think its grasping at straws to try & prevent you from realizing that power & strength.

Food for thought. But at the end of the day, it doesnt matter. They can have no say in which union your group decides to join.

-jt · Feb 11, 2003

Lets see..... NYC is the largest employer I know of and we have a union for practically every kind of city worker you can think of. They are all recognized by their employer - the city.

Our firemen, policemen, sanitation men, paramedics, EMTs, and 7,000 nurses here are all service workers who have the same employer - the city. And they each have their own unions too. So I dont think there is such a law. But G-d only knows what kind of legal loopholes your anti-union state has come up with.

flowerchild · Feb 13, 2003

I think your employer knows that with you in the UAN, they would have to share control with strong, proactive nurses & they dont want to do that. It doesnt want you to be in any union, but since it cant stop you, its trying to persuade you to be in a different one rather than the UAN because it knows how strong you will be with the UAN by your side. I think your employer fears the power of UAN nurses and our union. And I think its grasping at straws to try & prevent you from realizing that power & strength. >

You've got it. That's exactly why.

Our firemen, policemen, sanitation men, paramedics, EMTs, and 7,000 nurses here are all service workers who have the same employer - the city. And they each have their own unions too. So I dont think there is such a law.>

Thank you for the great example. I needed that to get over my hard headedness or maybe it's just inexperience. This is all new to me. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I'm beginning to understand.

This is what I fear and have been worrying about. I don't know the laws but that is why we have a lawyer or two to help us but so does the employer. I'll let you know how it goes.