Labor Board Overturns Flagstaff Hospital Vote - Cites repeated hospital interference with RN rights

The National Labor Relations Board today threw out a June 21 and 22 election for registered nurses at Flagstaff Medical Center that the federal government said was marred by the hospital’s massive and widespread interference with RN democratic rights

The 550 nurses were voting on whether to be represented by the National Nurses Organizing Committee/California Nurses Association (NNOC/CNA). There are currently no significant unionized hospitals in Arizona.

“We are elated with the decision," said Diane Baker, RN, who works in the hospital’s endoscopy department. “We knew this was not a fair election. We hope that the hospital will obey the law but, more importantly, recognize that FMC nurses are committed to winning a contract that will give us a voice in patient care, salary, and benefits that will recruit and retain the most qualified nurses to our hospital.”

“This is an important victory for the Flagstaff nurses, and their democratic right to vote on whether to join CNA/NNOC in an atmosphere free of coercion, and a strong message to the hospital that it must adhere to the rule of law, said Rose Ann DeMoro, CNA/NNOC Executive Director.”

NNOC/CNA estimated that the hospital had spent over two million dollars in their campaign.

NNOC/CNA filed objections to the hospital’s conduct during the campaign after the election. A six-day hearing on the objections was held in July. The NLRB hearing officer, in a 32-page report concluded:

“In sum, I find that the employer, by telling employees there would be no wage adjustments during negotiations, threatened employees with the loss of annual merit increases and thereby, engaged in objectionable conduct. I find that the conduct was repeated at over 40 employee meetings and involved high-ranking employer officials. A threat of loss of benefits is serious misconduct. The threats made at employee meetings affected almost all the employee, thus, I find that it would interfere with employee free choice in the election.”

The National Nurses Organizing Committee/California Nurses Association is one of the largest and fastest-growing professional direct-care RN unions in the nation, with 70,000 members in California and 44 other states.