A nurse at Kansas City, Mo.-based Research Medical Center claims she and her colleagues faced intimidation when they tried to decertify the union at the facility, according to The Kansas City Star.
Here are seven things to know about the situation:
1. Kacy Warner, a nurse at the medical center, filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.
2. The complaint alleges she and some of her colleagues were harassed by agents with the National Nurses Organizing Committee of Missouri and National Nurses United of Kansas May 14 in the midst of a petition drive to dissolve the union at RMC, according to the report.
3. The complaint states: "Union agents stood in front of the informational table, blocking it, and monopolized the employees' time by loudly badgering them. These actions prevented, or tended to prevent, other employees from approaching the table and intimidated, or tended to intimidate, employees from entering the room and approaching the table."
4. Union leaders didn't immediately respond to The Kansas City Star's request for comment May 29.
5. However, a spokesperson from RMC's owner, HCA Midwest Health, provided a statement to the publication backing the legal rights of employees.
"Research Medical Center supports the legal rights of its employees to make up their own minds about union representation," the statement reads. "Our employees should be able to make an informed choice about union representation in an atmosphere free from interference by any group or interest, and without intimidation, coercion or harassment."
6. Ms. Warner's complaint comes eight years after the union formed in 2010.
7. It is connected to proposed legislation in Missouri that would allow nonunion members, such as Ms. Warner, to opt out of paying union dues, reports The Kansas City Star. Missouri lawmakers approved the legislation, known as the "Right to Work" bill. However, Missouri voters must sign off on it in the August primary elections before implementation.
Read the full report here.
More articles on human capital and risk:
Shuttle drivers at St. Louis hospital, university vote to unionize
McLaren Lapeer Region nurses to picket over staffing
Stony Brook University Hospital nurses protest over pay