The National Labor Relations Board will hear allegations of anti-union activities against Beaumont Health's hospital in Royal Oak, Mich.
The allegations come from the Michigan Nurses Association, which filed a complaint with the NLRB last year, outlining instances of alleged misconduct.
The union says Beaumont, Royal Oak discriminated against nurses due to their union activities and interfered, coerced and restrained them in their unionization efforts. The efforts began more than a year ago. Nurses accuse the hospital of interrogating employees about private Facebook page postings; threatening the loss of favorable working conditions or outsourcing for workers if they decide to unionize; and prohibiting employees from talking about unions, among other complaints.
After investigating the allegations, the NLRB decided to move the case to the next step in its administrative process, a hearing scheduled for April 13 at the labor board's Detroit local office.
"We've been saying all along that Beaumont violated our legal rights to talk about patient care and other issues in our workplace," Philomena Kerobo, a Beaumont RN, said in a news release. "We are proud Beaumont nurses advocating for our patients, and it's very disappointing that our employer has treated us this way. I'm glad to see steps toward holding Beaumont administrators accountable for their illegal behavior."
Beaumont Health CNO Susan Grant, RN, said the hospital complies with federal labor law and called the union's allegations "unfounded."
"We look forward to presenting our case before an administrative law judge," she added, noting that the NLRB's preliminary, nonbinding decision to move the case forward is "an expected part of that process and not a finding or final determination."
"We are proud of our nurses at Beaumont, Royal Oak for consistently being leaders in nursing excellence. For example, within the last two years, our Royal Oak nurses achieved their fourth consecutive national Magnet designation," said Ms. Grant. "We remain committed to our longstanding culture of excellence, collaboration and open communication with our nurses and all employees who are essential to our mission to provide compassionate, extraordinary care every day."