Ruling could cut nurses out of union - Labor board decision may reclassify workers as managers

By Rebecca Vesely
Oakland Tribune
July 12, 2006

OAKLAND — Hundreds of nurses rallied in front of Oakland's City Hall on Tuesday at lunchtime to draw attention to an upcoming decision by a federal labor agency that could affect their ability to unionize.

Additional rallies will be held this week in Los Angeles, Maine and Chicago.

At issue is an upcoming ruling by the National Labor Relations Board, or NLRB, in three cases where employers are seeking to reclassify some workers as managers.

For instance, experienced registered nurses could be reclassified as charge nurses or team leaders, meaning they would effectively become managers and therefore would no longer be eligible for union representation.

The Oakland-based California Nurses Association, or CNA, representing 65,000 registered nurses statewide, could lose hundreds if not thousands of members if the changes are approved by the board.

"The right to a union is a fundamental right," said Rose Ann DeMoro, executive director of CNA.

The three cases are known as Oakwood Healthcare, Golden Crest Healthcare and Croft Metals Inc. They stem from a 2001 U.S. Supreme Court decision in NLRB v. Kentucky River. The high court overturned the labor board's decision that six registered nurses working at a mental health facility called Kentucky River were not supervisors because they did not exercise independent judgment in performing their duties.

The NLRB is a federal agency that investigates alleged unfair labor practices by employees and unions. It also conducts elections to determine if workers want union representation.

The five-member board is appointed by the president to five-year terms. All the current members were appointed by President Bush.

Three are Republicans and two are Democrats, said Patricia Gilbert, spokeswoman for the NLRB.

The scope of the ruling is unknown. How the NLRB rules in three cases could affect employees in other industries.

A decision from the board is expected by the end of the summer, Gilbert said.