Pittsburgh Business Times October 9, 2006
Labor board ruling creates snag in nurses' negotiations with AGH By Kris B. Mamula
A National Labor Relations Board decision this week is snagging contract talks between Allegheny General Hospital and its nurses, according to a union official.
The NLRB found that some health care institutions can classify nurses as supervisors, if they do such things as direct others as part of their regular duties. Supervisors do not have the protection of organized labor, so the ruling may reduce union membership.
But at Allegheny General and other hospitals, nurses routinely rotate through the position of charge nurse, which has supervisory duties as part of the job, making the impact of the NLRB ruling less clear.
In contract talks this week, the hospital reserved the right to classify charge nurses as supervisors and therefore exempt from union protections, according to Cathy Stoddart, secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union Local 1199P.
"I'm frankly shocked the hospital would take that position," said Stoddart, who also works in the hospital's kidney transplant recovery area. "I'm very disappointed in their response."
West Penn Allegheny Health System spokesman Tom Chakurda declined to comment. The union scheduled an emergency meeting with nurses on Oct. 6 to discuss the hospital's position. Stoddart said the ruling could affect more than half of the hospital's 1,200 nurses, and that serving in the charge position was "how nurses grow" and gain experience. Additionally, it has been part of Allegheny General's tradition for decades, she said.
The issue has become core to the nurses' goals in contract talks, which include an end to mandatory overtime, wage hikes, establishment of a wage scale and revised nurse-to-patient ratios, which vary depending on department. Allegheny General nurses earn around $27 an hour, and their three-year contract with the hospital expires Oct. 13.
In earlier decisions, the NLRB found that supervisors must spend a "regular and substantial" part of their time in charge to be counted apart from the union, according to Downtown lawyer Alan Pittler, but the board has not further defined that clause.
"It's not based on a title," Pittler said. "It's based on what they do."
Pittler said the impact of the ruling may vary among workplaces, where employees fill in as needed or as a regular part of their jobs. "It depends on how hospitals do it," he said.
Contact Kris Mamula at kmamula at bizjournals.com | (412) 481-6397 x230
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