Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa, Calif., confirmed the National Labor Relations Board filed a "bad faith bargaining order" against the hospital related to a union election that took place last fall.
The November 2016 union election involved more than 400 service and technical workers, who decided by a margin of approximately 3-to-2 to join the National Union of Healthcare Workers.
"As a result of certain decisions by the NLRB surrounding a union election that took place in November 2016, we believe our employees did not have a free and fair opportunity to vote," the hospital said in a statement to Becker's Hospital Review. Therefore, the hospital said it could ask the union if they would agree to resolve the matter by holding a new election, but the union declined to do that last March. So the hospital said it went with the other option, which was to refuse to bargain with the union and wait for the NLRB to issue a "bad faith bargaining order" against the hospital.
"Even then, in order to prevent delay, we offered to meet with the union to discuss the terms of a collective bargaining agreement with the understanding that it would only go into effect if our appeals were denied. The union also declined that request," the hospital statement reads.
The statement notes: "The United States Supreme Court and federal appellate courts have unanimously agreed for decades that in order for an employer to challenge whether a union is the properly certified representative of all employees, they must refuse to recognize a union after its certification. ... An employer who fails to follow this specific procedural course waives the right to contest certification, which is why Queen of the Valley strongly believes that taking this course of action and pursuing our appeal to the highest allowable court is necessary to protecting the rights of our employees and is consistent with our mission of inclusion for all."
The NLRB complaint was issued at the end of May by NLRB Regional Director Jill Coffman, after the NUHW filed several unfair labor practice charges against the hospital, according to a Napa Valley Register report.
In the complaint, Ms. Coffman calls for a judge to require Queen of the Valley "to provide data it has withheld, allow the union access to the hospital grounds and begin good-faith bargaining," the report states.
In response to the complaint, Ray Herrera, a radiology technician, told the Napa Valley Register: "From the moment we began organizing, Queen executives have tried to intimidate us and bully us out of forming a union. They clearly don't want a workforce with the power to shine a light on how they have compromised patient care to further increase their profits."
Anacelia Trejo, a cook at the Napa hospital added: "We are thrilled that the labor board director took this action, and we are determined to continue standing up for ourselves and our patients."
The hospital said NLRB has scheduled a hearing Aug. 7 "on charges stemming from Queen of the Valley's refusal to recognize the NUHW and on other allegations hinging on Queen of the Valley's challenge to the union's certification."
"We have previously communicated to the NLRB that we deny the union's allegations and will continue to pursue our avenue to appeal," the hospital said. "By scheduling a hearing, the NLRB is not ruling the medical center engaged in any wrongdoing; rather it is merely an administrative step to allow the United States Court of Appeal to decide the matter."
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