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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 20, 2006)
...Nurses respond to NLRB ruling stripping union rights (From Page 2) the definitions of those things, and the Supreme Court had said “independent judgment” and “responsibly to direct” are ambiguous and in need of more precise defining by the NLRB. Accordingly, the Board agreed to consider Oakwood Healthcare’s appeal in March 2002, to use it as a case to re- fine its legal definition of supervisor. A tight definition of supervisor isn’t easy in the complex workplace hierar- chy of health care. At Oakwood, RNs report to an on-site nursing manager, clinical managers, clinical supervisors and assistant clinical managers, in ad- dition to following doctors’ orders. But they also direct less-skilled employees to perform tasks such as feeding, bathing and walking patients. Charge nurses, in turn, are RNs who are re- sponsible for overseeing their patient care units. They meet with doctors and patients’ family members, and they as- sign other RNs, licensed practical nurses, nursing assistants, technicians and paramedics to handle particular patients. Some RNs are charge nurses on every shift they work, while some rotate in and out, sometimes serving as charge nurse and sometimes serving as regular staff nurses. For four-and-a-half years, the Board heard arguments from both sides and thought about it for a long time, long enough that the Board’s Clinton appointees’ terms expired and were replaced with Bush appointees. In the end, the Board said perma- nent charge nurses were supervisors, and so were rotating charge nurses if they were regularly scheduled and served as charge nurses at least 15 per- cent of the time. Oakwood’s rotating nurses weren’t regularly scheduled as such, so they got to keep their union. But its permanent charge nurses are now excluded, and management has a pretty good roadmap as to how to ex- clude the others. The decision is likely to harm nurses unions in several ways. When current contracts expire, management could complain that charge nurses don’t belong in the unit, and legally they would presumably have the upper hand in eliminating those individuals from the union. But that could provoke strong response from the unions, such as the promised strike by CNA if man- agement tries it. Kaiser Permanente, which has the best relations with its unions of any health care system in the nation, has already announced it has no intention of reclassifying charge nurses. But it remains to be seen what other employ- ers will do. At least one union used its latest contract to postpone reclassification: The Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers Healthcare Division, ratified a three- year contract in July that includes a provision that no registered nurse or li- censed practical nurse in the bargain- ing unit can be considered managerial PAGE 16 the two companion deci- sions, have the potential to spread this unwanted “supervisor status” to other workers besides charge nurses. In the cases of Golden Crest Health Care and Croft Metals Inc., the NLRB didn’t say the workers WEREN’T supervisors, just that management had failed to prove they were. Some legal observers have said this opens the door to further legal chal- lenges that would try to expand the definition of supervisor. At Golden Crest, the NLRB said nursing home manage- ment failed to show that charge nurses had the au- thority to require other employees to stay past the end of their shifts or come in from off-duty status. It’s easy to see how man- agement could get a dif- ferent result: give them that authority, and charge nurses become supervi- Kaiser Permanente RN Bruce Corkum, vice sors. At Croft, the NLRB president of AFT Healthcare Northwest, tells said management failed to reporters a recent NLRB decision will make it show that lead workers at more risky for some nurses to challenge hospitals the factory were expected over bad patient care decisions. to use enough independ- ent judgment to qualify as supervisors. or supervisory. Overall, it’s likely that anti-union But the bigger impact of the deci- employers that have up-to-date legal sion is likely to be that it slows union- advice will tweak job descriptions and ization drives: Employers fighting change workplace practices to fit the union campaigns will be able to ex- clude charge nurses. And that’s not just broadened definition of supervisor, in a numerical loss. Charge nurses are of- order to reduce or limit the number of ten the nurses who’ve shown more ini- union members. There is a chance the decision tiative or leadership ability, and are of- could be reversed by a later Board. ten the nurses leading union The NLRB interprets the National La- campaigns. bor Relations Act, but its interpreta- Finally, Oakwood Healthcare, plus tions have changed depending on what party is in the White House. For exam- ple, Clinton appointees to the NLRB ruled that graduate students working as teaching and research assistants could unionize. Bush appointees re- versed that decision. The NLRB’s decision in the Oak- wood case was split 3-2, with the two Democrats on the Board giving a dis- senting opinion. The Board’s composi- tion could change if and when the White House goes to a Democrat. The current White House occupant’s serv- ice is limited to two terms, and expires at the end of 2008. November 2006 General Election Recommendations From The NW Oregon Labor Council G O VE RN O R Ted Kulongoski U . S . R E P R E S E N T A T I V E David Wu, 1st District Earl Blumenauer, 3rd District Darlene Hooley, 5th District M E T RO Kathryn Harrington — Councilor, Dist. 4 M U L T N O M A H C O U N T Y Mary Overgaard — Circuit Judge Dist. 28 Cheryl Albrecht — Circuit Judge Dist. 31 C L A C K A M A S C O U N T Y Lynn Peterson, Commissioner, Position 2 C I T Y O F G R E S H A M Dick Strathern, Commissioner, Position 4 B A L L O T M E A S U R E S Portland Public Schools local option L e vy 26 -8 4 S u p p or t Hillsboro School District Bond Measure 34-128: S u p p o r t Authorized and paid for by the Northwest Oregon Labor Council ENDORSEMENTS INCLUDE Northwest Oregon Labor Council Multnomah County Democratic Party (joint) City Commissioner Randy Leonard Rep. Jeff Merkley Rep. Greg McPherson Rep. George Eighmey Justice Betty Roberts Justice Jacob Tanzer Judge Marilyn Litzenberger Senators Ron and Jane Cease Senator Ryan Deckert www.maryovergaardforjudge.com 1125 SE Madison St., Portland, OR 97214 Judicial Experience CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE PRO TEM, 5 years Practicing attorney, over 23 years Community and Professional Involvement Oregon State Bar, House of Delegates Representative Oregon State Bar, Quality of Life Committee member Co-Chair, Oregon Gay and Lesbian Law Association Oregon Women Lawyers, member Judge, Northwestern School of Law Moot Court competition Victim’s Impact Panel, Judge/moderator, 1996-1999 Multnomah County Bar, Judicial Liaison Committee member, 1995-1999 President, Oregon Women’s Political Caucus, 2004-2006 Volunteer Reader, SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) Authorized and paid for by Mary Overgaard for Judge NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS OCTOBER 20, 2006
