Beaumont Health and the National Labor Relations Board have settled allegations of anti-union activities against the health system's hospital in Royal Oak, Mich.
The settlement, reached Aug. 28, requires Southfield, Mich.-based Beaumont to post announcements of the settlement at the hospital that state the hospital won't restrict workers' legally protected rights, according to a message the Michigan Nurses Association sent to nurses.
Beaumont Health has not admitted wrongdoing.
The settlement stems from an organizing effort that was announced in April 2019, during which the Michigan Nurses Association filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board.
The complaint issued by the NLRB as a result of these charges alleged that the hospital discriminated against nurses because of their union activities and interfered, coerced and restrained them as they tried to unionize.
The recent settlement resolves these allegations, and the union stopped the union drive.
"MNA arrived at the difficult decision to step back from officially organizing nurses at Beaumont for a union certification campaign," Diane Goddeeris, RN, interim executive director of the Michigan Nurses Association, said in a statement to Becker's Hospital Review.
"Beaumont spent at least $1.77 million on hiring 'labor consultants' before a pandemic, some of whom were employed with the express written purpose of stopping nurses from forming a union. It goes without saying that these resources could have been better spent providing front-line healthcare workers with more PPE and improving staffing.
"While we hope that Beaumont's settlement with the NLRB will make it reconsider its actions in the future, our state and our country need to find concrete ways to prevent healthcare executives from continuing to use precious hospital resources to silence the voice of nurses," according to the statement.
Beaumont also issued a statement to Becker's, saying it is pleased a settlement was reached.
"The Michigan Nurses Association previously dropped or withdrew numerous charge allegations it filed against Beaumont with the National Labor Relations Board. We are pleased to have reached a settlement with the NLRB regarding the remaining allegations," the health system said.
"Contrary to the union's misrepresentations, this settlement is not a determination or finding by the NLRB that Beaumont violated federal labor law. The notices Beaumont is posting as part of the settlement affirm our longstanding commitment to protect nurses' rights under the law, including their right to support or to oppose unionization. We are deeply appreciative of the heroic work our nurses perform every day."