NLRB Sets Date for Nurse Union Hearing

The National Labor Relations Board has scheduled an April 27 hearing on a request by some Duke nurses to hold an election to determine whether they would be represented by the International Union of Operating Engineers.

A NLRB official said this week that a petition showing interest in a union election was filed with the board on April 11. The official wouldn't say how many names were on the petition, but NLRB regulations state a union must submit signatures from at least 30 percent of the affected employees to force an election.

The purpose of the hearing would be to set the terms for a union election. The major issues to be established are who is eligible for the vote, where the vote will occur and when it will happen.

The hearing has been scheduled in the court house in Hillsborough. Howard Neidig, assistant to the NLRB regional director in Winston-Salem, said, "The next step is we will talk by phone with both parties attempting to get agreement on the important points. If it's clear we can't get agreement on these points, we'll go straight to the hearing to settle them."

A union official said the major concern of some nurses was the staffing shortage at Duke Hospital.

"It's hard to give quality patient care when you are facing these kinds of staff shortages," said David Miller, a union official. "There are other issues. They are working with less benefits; many nurses are working a lot of mandatory overtime because of the shortages."

Mary Ann Crouch, the hospital's chief nursing officer, said about 10 percent of the hospital's nursing positions are vacant.

"One of my fears is that if the nurses do unionize with the operating enginerers, it may become even more difficult to recruit nursing staff," she said. "Indications such as the recent Board of Nursing site review show that we are providing high quality patient care despite vacancies, but we are working very hard to recruit more nurses."

Hospital Chief Executive Officer Michael Israel said he has discussed the matter with his staff and, "I have very little disagreement within anything I've heard in those meetings. What I differ with is those individuals who are proponents of third party representation and collective bargaining. I don't believe that that will bring about a resolution to the issues they have."

The National Labor Relations Board has scheduled an April 27 hearing on a request by some Duke nurses to hold an election to determine whether they would be represented by the International Union of Operating Engineers.

A NLRB official said this week that a petition showing interest in a union election was filed with the board on April 11. The official wouldn't say how many names were on the petition, but NLRB regulations state a union must submit signatures from at least 30 percent of the affected employees to force an election.

The purpose of the hearing would be to set the terms for a union election. The major issues to be established are who is eligible for the vote, where the vote will occur and when it will happen.

The hearing has been scheduled in the court house in Hillsborough. Howard Neidig, assistant to the NLRB regional director in Winston-Salem, said, "The next step is we will talk by phone with both parties attempting to get agreement on the important points. If it's clear we can't get agreement on these points, we'll go straight to the hearing to settle them."

A union official said the major concern of some nurses was the staffing shortage at Duke Hospital.

"It's hard to give quality patient care when you are facing these kinds of staff shortages," said David Miller, a union official. "There are other issues. They are working with less benefits; many nurses are working a lot of mandatory overtime because of the shortages."

Mary Ann Crouch, the hospital's chief nursing officer, said about 10 percent of the hospital's nursing positions are vacant.

"One of my fears is that if the nurses do unionize with the operating enginerers, it may become even more difficult to recruit nursing staff," she said. "Indications such as the recent Board of Nursing site review show that we are providing high quality patient care despite vacancies, but we are working very hard to recruit more nurses."

Hospital Chief Executive Officer Michael Israel said he has discussed the matter with his staff and, "I have very little disagreement within anything I've heard in those meetings. What I differ with is those individuals who are proponents of third party representation and collective bargaining. I don't believe that that will bring about a resolution to the issues they have."