A petition by nurses at Wrangell Medical Center to have the Alaska Nurses Association act as a collective bargaining unit for non-supervisory nurses has failed after a review by the Alaska Labor Relations Agency.
In the conclusion of the ALRA decision and order, factors such as the size of the community, wages, hours and other working conditions led to a recommendation of a united bargaining unit.
“A single, wall-to-wall unit of non-supervisory employees at (WMC) is the unit appropriate for collective bargaining,” stated the report.
WMC CEO Noel Selle-Rea welcomed the decision and believes it is in the best interest of the hospital.
“I think we were able to demonstrate to the agency that fragmenting a small unit in the building would not be good,” Selle-Rea said. “We have shown that we have consistent and fair practices for all staff at WMC and to segment them would duplicate systems and procedures which would be burdensome and unnecessary.”
Laura Salard, an RN who works per diem at WMC, said the decision was not a defeat – and that the process will continue to move forward among employees at the hospital.
“We’re not disheartened because the decision just said the nurses couldn’t have their own union,” Salard said. “Under the decision, the whole hospital can unionize rather than just us. Plus, we don’t feel like this is over yet because a lot of nurses and staff feel that nothing has changed. Issues at the hospital have not been resolved and there is a lack of improvements from what we’ve seen.”
According to Selle-Rea, the process of collective bargaining would have cost WMC financially and created additional administrative burdens during the negotiation process.
“It would have cost a lot of money to have to endure that,” Selle-Rea added.
The decision was also applauded by one of the most senior nurses at WMC.
“I think it’s a good decision and positive for all the employees of the group,” said WMC’s former Director of Nursing, Janet Buness. “I agree that fragmentation is not in the best interest of the staff or hospital.”
The ANA filed a petition in May seeking to unite all non-supervisory nurses under union protection. Opposition to the plan from WMC, however, revolved around what it called the “appropriateness of the proposed bargaining unit,” and argued that unionizing a group of non-supervisory nurses would cause fragmentation among the staff at the hospital.
WMC claimed that any representation should be for all employees and not just nurses.
“Instead, the Medical Center asserts that a wall-to-wall unit consisting of all non-supervisory employees (is) the appropriate bargaining unit,” stated the decision.
As of Nov. 30 there were 12 supervisory and 54 non-supervisory regular employees at WMC – with Medical Technologists, Medical Technicians, Radiology Technicians, Registered Nurses, Medical Social Workers, Ward Technicians, Scope Technicians, Certified Nursing Assistants and the Activities Director under the supervision of the Director of Nursing.
The nurses requesting unionization have 30 days to appeal the decision by ALRA.
Reader Comments(0)