In rare move, Yale New Haven Hospital calls for new union election

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/node/5453

In rare move, Yale New Haven Hospital calls for new union election

For the past eight years, Local 1199/SEIU has been trying to organize the 1,800 service workers at Yale New Haven Hospital.

Two weeks ago, the union withdrew its petition for an NLRB-sponsored election, saying the hospital had made a fair election impossible. It wants the hospital to recognize the union through card check. Then on Wednesday, the hospital took the very unusual step of filing its own petition for an election. WIN’s Melinda Tuhus reports from New Haven, (CT).

By Melinda Tuhus:

It’s rare that an employer will file for an election for its employees. And it’s only allowed under certain conditions, says William Gould, who headed the NLRB under the Clinton administration. He’s now an emeritus law professor at Stanford University.

Gould says the 1947 Taft-Hartley amendments to the NLRA expanded the authority of employers regarding unionization efforts. In this case, he says, the issue hinges on whether there’s an ongoing demand for recognition. And that’s based on the question of whether or not the union’s insistence upon the card check procedure can be equated to a demand for recognition.

Cut :18 If it’s a demand for recognition, then the employer is authorized to file such a petition. Since 1947 they can say, we want it resolved this way, because the union is demanding without going to the board.

But that’s definitely not what’s happening, says union spokesman Bill Meyerson.

Cut :13 We’re not claiming we have a majority now. That majority was destroyed by the hospital’s unlawful conduct. Our position is that they should count the cards that were filed with the labor board previous to the setting of the election.

Meyerson says the neutral arbitrator could still order the hospital to accept card check as a way of bringing in the union. As for the hospital’s latest move, he says,

Cut :04 Well, obviously, we’re going to have to fight it.

PLEASE note this is not a copy righted story.

AUDIO story here: http://www.laborradio.org/files/lo/winsheadlines.ram