The California Nurses Association/National Nurses United has withdrawn a petition for holding a second union election at Modesto, Calif.-based Memorial Medical Center, according to a report from The Modesto Bee.
Last year, after registered nurses at the hospital rejected union representation in a 462-352 vote, the union filed objections with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming that management at MMC used tactics to coerce nurses to vote against unionizing, according to the report.
Earlier this year, an administrative law judge nullified the election and recommended a second election, The Modesto Bee notes. But the union withdrew its NLRB petition Thursday for another election.
In response to the union withdrawing its petition, MMC CEO Daryn Kumar told The Modesto Bee that the hospital "feel[s] this represents the wishes of the majority of our nurses." He added, "This outcome allows us to continue working directly with all of our valued employees to make MemorialMedicalCenter the best place to work and the best place to provide safe, high-quality, affordable care."
The union is not allowed to refile an election petition for at least six months, according to the report.
David Johnson, a union spokesman, said in the report that the judge's decision to nullify the election and recommend a second election vindicated the union's complaints.
"We are convinced that registered nurses at Memorial are going to have a union sooner rather than later, but we are not prepared to move forward with an election," Mr. Johnson told The Modesto Bee.
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