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MountainView Hospital in Las Vegas ‘cops a plea’ in settlement; Employee Free Choice Act needed
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Employers have long ago resigned themselves to laws against discrimination in the workplace and have given up any efforts to employ young children as a cost cutting measure. While some employers didn’t engage in such behavior others only changed their policies in an effort to avoid the public and legal backlash. The Employee Free Choice Act is supported by a majority of the American people since it simply enforces the right to organize. Just as employers cannot claim that obeying the law is bad for profits without backlash so must the right to organize be protected as an employee’s choice. The employer does not and should not play a part in the decision.
MountainView Hospital in Las Vegas has provided the latest reason for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act as it has agreed to a settlement that is essentially a plea bargain with the National Labor Relations Board which conducted a two-month investigation into massive illegal conduct. The hospital and its parent company, the giant HCA chain, have pledged to end their surveillance, interrogation, bribery, threats, and other unfair treatment of registered nurses.
The settlement stems from a series of unfair practices filed with the NLRB in mid July, one week before MountainView RNs were poised to elect NNOC/CNA as their bargaining representatives. The NLRB investigates and remedies unfair labor practices by employers and conducts secret ballot elections to determine whether employees want union representation.
The NLRB put the election on hold so they could investigate whether the illegal conduct tainted the election at the hospital. Faced with pending trial and penalties, management agreed to cease its illegal conduct, post notices throughout the hospital, and send its commitment electronically to every RN.
Evelyn Baker, an RN in the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit at MountainView who was one of many nurses who provided testimony to the board said of the outcome, "The Labor Board heard evidence from both sides and I am so glad that they determined that MountainView had to remedy its violations. It means we should be able to campaign freely without fear of retaliation."
Marissa Guiterrez, an ICU RN at MountainView agreed. "Now there can be no doubt that the election last July would have been tainted - the federal government was going to issue an indictment but MountainView choose to acknowledge their violations and settle. We prevailed and RNs will soon be able to decide for ourselves, this time without fear and intimidation."
"MountainView RNs called us this past spring because they wanted their rights, and their patients' interests better protected by having a collective voice and union representation," said Zenei Cortez, RN, co-president of NNOC/CNA.
MountainView's "campaign of harassment against RNs this summer proved what most nurses there were already saying: that the administration did not respect its RNs, and without a strong RN organization, HCA would trample on the rights of nurses and patients," said Cortez.
"Pulling RNs away from patient care assignments to bombard them with anti-CNA propaganda and sequestering them for two-hour interrogations only served to remind the RNs why they need representation to protect their democratic rights," she said.
"The considerable efforts and hard work expended by the NLRB on this case reinforces our message that no employer should be allowed to get away with subjecting its workers to the level of pressure and retaliation experienced here, especially those who devote their lives to creating an atmosphere of healing," said Cortez.
The fight of MountainView RNs to protect those rights and their ability to decide about representation in an environment devoid of coercion is a reminder of the importance of passing the Employee Free Choice Act, Cortez added. "We need a level playing field that can only be assured by passing this basic rights law."
NNOC/CNA represents 86,000 RNs in all 50 states, and is a founding member of National Nurses United, a 150,000-member RN organization that will hold its inaugural convention December 7-8 in Arizona.
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