HRM Exam
csht
week_6_number_3_HCA_502revised.pptxLabor Relations and Healthcare Organizations
Week 6 session 3
1
Unions
Union
--- A formal association of workers that promotes its members’ interest through collective bargaining
--- The official employee representative
Unions in the United States
Represent about 11% of the U.S. civilian workforce
Union membership declining
Unions heavily concentrated in metropolitan areas
Union activity in healthcare industry likely to increase
2
Why Employees Unionize
Employees feel mistreated
Employees concerned about staff-to-patient ratios
Employees believe a union can negotiate financial & job security, and better working conditions
JOB DISSATISFACTION
Poor working conditions
Lack of recognition
Job stress
Lack of career opportunities
Competing personal family commitments
3
Manager’s role is to create positive work environment in order to avoid unionization
4
Unionization in Healthcare
A vote AGAINST management
A vote FOR the union
Unionization is frequently…
vs.
Labor-Relations Philosophy
Both parties try to control process & relationship
Information used selectively to gain advantages
Decisions made by compromise
Not favorable for long-term relationships
Shared responsibility to address mutual concerns from both sides
Openly share information
Decisions made by consensus
Favorable for long-term relationships
5
Union-management relationship
Adversarial
Collaborative
National Labor Code
6
National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)
Also known as: Wagner Act
Enforced by: National Labor Relations Board (NLRB.gov)
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services
-- Agency that mediates labor negotiations and conflicts
(http://www.fmcs.gov/)
7
Taft-Hartley Act
(rights of management)
Passed in1947
Designed to equalize the efforts of the NLRA
Defines and prohibits unfair labor practices by unions
Landrum-Griffin Act
(rights of union members & their unions)
Passed in 1959
Designed to protect workers from the unions that represent them
Curtails corrupt union practices
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Taft-Hartley Act & Landrum-Griffin Act
Who’s covered by the NLRA?
9
NLRA rights
Employee Rights
to form, join, decertify, or assist a labor organization
to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing
to refrain from such activities.
Employees may also join together to improve terms and conditions of employment without a union (concerted activities)
Examples of concerted activities
Two or more employees addressing their employer about improving their pay.
Two or more employees discussing work-related issues beyond pay, such as safety concerns, with each other.
An employee speaking to an employer on behalf of one or more co-workers about improving workplace conditions.
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Unfair Labor Practices
By Employers:
Threatening employees with loss of jobs or benefits if they join or vote for a union or engage in protected concerted activity.
Threatening to close the plant if employees select a union to represent them.
Questioning employees about their union sympathies or
Promising benefits to employees to discourage their union support.
Transferring, laying off, terminating, assigning employees more difficult work tasks, or otherwise punishing employees because they engaged in union or protected concerted activity.
By Unions:
Threats to employees that they will lose their jobs unless they support the union.
Seeking the suspension, discharge or other punishment of an employee for not being a union member
Refusing to process a grievance because an employee has criticized union officials
Engaging in picket line misconduct, such as threatening, assaulting, or barring non-strikers from the employer's premises.
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Example of unfair labor practices by an employer
12
Example of unfair labor practices by an employer
13
Special provisions specific to healthcare industry
Purpose: To protect communities in case of strike
10-day strike notice
- required of unions who intend to strike
Negotiation Notification
- requires parties to notify FMCS 90 days prior to contract
expiration, of intent to begin negotiation
Impasse
- when the parties cannot resolve a dispute
- requires notification to FMCS & mediator is assigned
Board of inquiry
- investigates, reports, & recommends solutions to resolve
contract disputes
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NLRA & the Healthcare Industry
Most employees in the private sector are covered by the NLRA. However, the Act specifically
excludes individuals who are:
employed by Federal, state, or local government
employed as agricultural laborers
employed in the domestic service of any person or family in a home
employed by a parent or spouse
employed as an independent contractor
employed as a supervisor (supervisors who have been discriminated against for refusing
to violate the NLRA may be covered)
employed by an employer subject to the Railway Labor Act, such as railro ads and airlines
Mek Arden, LLC d/b/a Arden Post Acute Rehab, Board Case No. 20 -CA-156352 (reported at 365 NLRB
No. 109) (D.C. Cir. decided December 7, 201 8)
In an unpublished judgment, the Court enforced the Board’s order issued against this operator of a long -
term-care and rehabilitation facility in Sacramento, California. The Board’s order remedies several
violations of Section 8(a)(1) committed during t he weeks leading up to an election in which a unit of
certified nursing assistants, cooks, housekeepers, and maintenance workers voted 41 to 45 not to be
represented by Service Employees International Union, Local 2015.
The Board found that the Employer unlawfully directed employees to wear attire associated with its
anti-union campaign, created the impression that employees’ union and protected activities were under
surveillance, prohibited the posting of union literature and removed such postings, and directed
employees not to wear union scrubs or to visit areas of the facility to which they were not assigned. The
Board also found that the Employer unlawfully s olicited employee grievances and impliedly promised to
remedy them. Finally, the Board set aside the election and remanded the case to the Regional Director
to conduct a new election.
Linwood Care Center (04-CA-146362, et al.; 367 NLRB No. 14 ) Linwood, NJ, October 10, 2018.
The Board adopted the Administrative Law Judge ’s conclusions that the Respondent violated: (1) Section
8(a)(1) by coercively interrogating employees about their union sympathies, and creating the impression
that their union activities were under surveillance; and (2) Section 8(a)(5) and (1) by unilate rally
changing the parties’ agreement concerning the Union’s access to its facility, and unreasonably delaying
in furnishing information the Union requested about personnel files of disciplined employees. The
Board also affirmed the judge’s dismissal of a llegations that the Respondent violated Section 8(a)(1) by
creating the impression of surveillance concerning employee support for the Union.
Moreover, ruling on complaint allegations that the judge did not address, the Board unanimously found,
based on uncontested facts, that the Respondent violated Section 8(a)(1) by: soliciting employees’
grievances and impliedly promising to remedy them; promising better working conditions and terms of
employment if employees voted to get rid of the Union; promising inc reased staffing and retroactive pay
increases in order to discourage employees’ support for the Union; telling an employee that a pay
increase could not be made because of the Union; and promising to discharge a disliked supervisor, train
a supervisor, increase wages, and change management in order to discourage employees from
supporting the Union.
