Union, Hospital Filing Charges as Nurses Stage Strike
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- On the eve of their one-day, "unfair labor practice strike at Northside Medical Center," nurses said a last-minute management challenge of their strike notice issued earlier this month is a "blatant attempt to harass and intimidate nurses."
In announcing Monday that it has filed unfair labor practice charges against the nurses union, the management of Northside Medical Center threatened to terminate nurses participating in the work stoppage (READ STORY). But as of 7 a.m. Tuesday, pickets were out in force.
The hospital contends the O.N.A. violated Section 8(g) of the National Labor Relations Act by serving three separate, conflicting and confusing notifications to the hospital.
“Very unfortunately, by federal law, nurses who participate in an unlawful strike in violation of the strict 10 day notice requirements of Section 8(g) could lose their employment status, until re-employed, pursuant to the National Labor Relations Act,” said Robert Sincich, interim vice president of human resources and director of labor relations. “It is irresponsible and regrettable that the O.N.A. would subject our nurses to potentially unlawful activity that could conceivably have had an impact on their employment status if the O.N.A.’s notices are deemed by the N.L.R.B. to be defective.”
Countered Eric Williams, president of the Youngstown General Duty Nurses Association, in a statement released Monday evening: “There can be no question that Northside management has been adequately notified of our plans. After all, they and Northside’s for-profit corporate owner have hired outside nurses at $55 an hour to take our places on Tuesday. Their baseless claim that the notice of this strike was somehow inadequate is a transparent ploy to threaten our members.”
Leaders of the nurses union said they plan to file an unfair labor practice charge against management for illegal intimidation of nurses at the hospital.
“The intent of the notice requirement is to give the hospital enough advance warning so that they can make plans to operate during the strike,” said Kelly Trautner, deputy executive officer for the Ohio Nurses Association, the official bargaining agent for the Northside nurses. “This claim by the employer is a last-minute attempt by local management and Tennessee-based Community Health Systems Inc. to undermine the commitment of nurses to stand up for continued quality care at Northside. That won’t happen.”
At meetings of YGDNA members through the day on Monday, nurses expressed their resolve to continue the fight to reach a fair contract agreement.
“Despite this eleventh-hour attempt to threaten and frighten our members, Northside’s nurses are overwhelmingly in favor of pressing forward,” said American Federation of Teachers Executive Vice President Francine Lawrence, a Youngstown native. “And I am proud to say that I will be on the picket line with them. We won’t be bullied or pushed aside from our goal.”
The AFT is the national union with which the Ohio Nurses Association is affiliated.
SOURCE: Ohio Nurses Association.
MORE:
Northside Files Unfair Labor Charges, Threatens Firings
Legislators Urge Northside to Resume Negotiations
ValleyCare Prepares for 1-Day strike at Northside
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
CLICK HERE to subscribe to our free daily email headlines and to our twice-monthly print edition.