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Labor Board Affirms Right to Organize at ProMedica; Charges Company with Violations of Federal Law, Reports UAW

28 November 2000

Labor Board Affirms Right to Organize at ProMedica; Charges Company with Violations of Federal Law, Reports UAW

    TOLEDO, Ohio, Nov. 28 In a complaint issued against
Toledo-based ProMedica Health System, charging multiple violations of Federal
labor law, the National Labor Relations Board has affirmed the right of
hospital employees to communicate freely with one another during their effort
to organize their own union, reports UAW.
    "They tried to scare us, but it's not going to work," said Chris
Gallagher, who works in the Medical Records section of Toledo Hospital, a
ProMedica-owned facility.  She has been active in the hospital worker
organizing campaign.  "This action by the Labor Board makes it very clear that
we have a right to talk to our co-workers.  It's our decision whether we want
to form our own union, and the hospital can't prevent us from exercising our
rights."
    The complaint against ProMedica was issued on November 22, following an
investigation by the Labor Board of charges brought by nine ProMedica
employees and the UAW, which has been supporting hospital workers in their
effort to organize a union.
    According to the Labor Board, ProMedica illegally interfered with their
employees' federally-guaranteed right to join with co-workers to support a
union organizing drive.  The company illegally disciplined the nine employees,
the Labor Board stated, in an effort to intimidate and coerce workers.
    The company also attempted to coerce its employees, the Labor Board
stated, by preventing them from talking to one another, and by "creating an
impression among its employees that their union activities were under
surveillance."
    Twelve ProMedica executives and supervisors are named in the complaint,
including the Director of Flower Hospital, Clinical Director of Flower
Hospital, and the Director of Nursing at the Gorliech Center.
    "No one should ever be intimidated because he or she wants to join a
union," said UAW Vice President Elizabeth Bunn, who directs the union's
Technical, Office and Professional (TOP) Department.  "ProMedica has a legal
and moral responsibility to put a stop to this kind of behavior, starting
yesterday."
    "I'm deeply disappointed," said Lloyd Mahaffey, director of UAW Region 2B
in northern Ohio.  "ProMedica executives have claimed that they will respect
the rights of their employees, but they are not honoring those commitments.
The hospital must take action, quickly, to reverse course and restore its
credibility."
    A hearing on the NLRB complaint has been scheduled for February 26 at the
Wood County Court House in Bowling Green, Ohio.  The legal remedies available
to the Labor Board include the ability to reverse any illegal disciplinary
actions, and to reimburse employees for any resulting financial losses.
    Nurses, technical and professional workers, support staff, office workers,
and skilled maintenance employees at Flower Hospital, Toledo Hospital and
other ProMedica facilities have been working to organize a union since June of
this year.  The organizing campaign follows a successful effort by workers at
St. Vincent Hospital, who voted to join the UAW in October of 1999, and
recently negotiated their first contract.
    The UAW represents approximately 15,000 health care workers, including
workers at St. Vincent; Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, MI; Detroit Medical
Center; Henry Ford Medical Center in Detroit, MI; Janesville Medical Center;
and at other hospitals, clinics and medical, dental and vision care offices
throughout the United States.