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Members of the Service Employees International Union gather for a local rally.

Naples Community Hospital (NCH), south of Tampa, denied charges in May that administrators allegedly intimidated and harassed nurses who were attempting to organize a union.

In its response to the National Labor Relations Board in Miami, which leveled the complaint in April, the hospital denied nearly every charge except two related to a verbal and a written reprimand to one of the nurses.

The reply, supplied by attorney Jim Brown – from the law firm Ford & Harrison hired to represent the hospital – simply reads “denied” for each accusation.

The legal proceedings stem from unfair labor practice allegations originally filed with the Labor Board by the Service Employees International Union. In its review of the charges, the Labor Board found enough merit to refer the case to an administrative law judge who will likely hold a hearing in July if a settlement isn’t reached before then. Following the ruling, either side can appeal the decision to a higher court.

Meanwhile, union organizers and the hospital were engaged in hearings with the Labor Board to formulate guidelines for a union election and define exactly how many nurses would be included. The nurses wanted to include between 800 and 900 bedside nurses. But the hospital wanted to include more than 1,000 nurses, among them home health nurses who have little contact with the others.

It was during this period that the nurses allege they were being harassed at the hospital. Once they filed the unfair labor practice complaint, the election was put on hold.

According to nurses, the hospital hired The Burke Group out of Malibu, California, which according to its Web site are “union avoidance consultants.” No one with The Burke Group or Naples Community Hospital would comment for this story or confirm their relationship.

Ann Anderson, an RN in the emergency department and a member of the organizing committee, said she personally confirmed that The Burke Group representatives were contacting nurses at the hospital.

“They’re pretty much putting every obstacle up that they can,” Anderson said. “We had an IRS return from a California hospital that said it paid (The Burke Group) $2.5 million for their consultant fees. So we can only guess what NCH is paying. All we’re asking for is to have a fair election.”

The nurses at NCH filed for a union election back in August because they wanted a stronger voice when it came to patient care, Anderson said. They had watched their workloads increase as nurses were laid off during a time when the hospital gave executives 19 percent bonuses. Anderson said that nurses’ complaints about patient care were often met with deaf ears. With a union, their demands will carry the stick of collective bargaining, she said.

In May, NCH announced an additional 79 layoffs, which did not include nurses. The reason, according to CEO Allen Weiss: The hospital lost $2.5 million in the first six months of the fiscal year. That same period last year, the hospital earned $8.6 million. Weiss blamed reduced reimbursements from Medicaid, Medicare and insurance companies, as well as an increase in uncompensated care due to the rising numbers of uninsured.

“Our current situation calls for immediate action,” Weiss said in a letter to staff.

In its complaint, the Labor Board lists nine incidents of harassment or intimidation in violation of the National Labor Relations Act. Some of the charges could result in back pay to the nurses who allege harm. The charges include the following:

Nurses were told that their union organizing activities were under surveillance.

• They were prohibited from distributing union information in non-patient areas.
• A nurse was told that her complaints would be remedied if she stopped her attempts to organize.
• A nurse was removed from a supervisory position allegedly because she engaged in union activity.

In essence, the complaint charges that the hospital violated federal law by “interfering with, restraining, and coercing employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed” under the Act, and also that the hospital has been “discriminating in regard to the hire or tenure or terms and conditions of employment of its employees, thereby discouraging membership in a labor organization.”
More than 2,000 Naples residents signed a petition in support of the nurses.

“A lot of times with big corporations, they forget about bedside care nurses,” said Betsy Marville, executive vice president of nurse division of SEIU Healthcare of Florida in Miami. “Our goal is to give nurses a voice in their patient care. We have similar goals as the hospitals. We both want to retain and recruit good healthcare workers.”



June 2008

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