The National Labor Relations Board is bringing civil charges against ACMH Hospital in Kittanning, Pa., after a union that represents workers at the hospital accused administrators of not bargaining in good faith and discriminating against employees participating in union activities, according to a TribLive report.
The licensed practicing nurse and technicians union and NLRB plan to bring the hospital in front of an administrative law judge Oct. 27 on charges ranging from prohibiting off-duty employees from striking to delaying negotiations, according to the report.
"We believe the two sets of charges the union brought against the hospital have merit, so the case is going to move to trial," said Suzanne Bernett, a regional attorney with the NLRB, according to TribLive. "A trial like this could bring the negotiations to a close if the judge and both sides are able to resolve some of these issues."
During the hearing, the NLRB plans to ask the judge to give the 125 union members a 2 percent raise and back pay dating to December 2014, when their annual wage increase was taken away, Ms. Bernett said, according to the report.
Among other things, the union alleges that:
- The practice of giving the annual wage increases was stopped because the employees unionized.
- Hospital officials did not allow union members to strike or picket on hospital property, and took away respiratory therapists' ability to create their own schedules as punishment for unionizing.
- Hospital management advised union members to not consult with their representatives, and refused to turn over information pertinent to negotiations.
Anne Remaley, the hospital's vice president of human relations, told Becker's Hospital Review the hospital is reviewing the charges with legal counsel.
The union and hospital administration have been in contract negotiations since August 2014, and met as recently as this week. If the two sides can come to an agreement and settle a contract before Oct. 27, the charges would be dissolved and the trial would be canceled.