Valley Hospital Medical Center cut ties with union, union official says

Valley Hospital Medical Center has severed ties with Service Employees International Union Local 1107, the union reports.

The move, which came Feb. 17, cut off contract negotiations, SEIU spokeswoman Dana Gentry said. The hospital no longer recognizes the SEIU as representing a bargaining unit of more than 500 registered nurses.

Union President Cherie Mancini believes Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center is trying to follow suit, according to an internal union memo obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“We have received numerous reports that Desert (Springs Hospital) employees have been forced or otherwise coerced to sign (decertification) cards or had their information used electronically without consent for the purpose of removing your union,” Mancini said in the memo.

A spokeswoman for both hospitals declined to comment.

But the SEIU provided the Review-Journal with a letter from Valley Hospital Medical Center, dated Feb. 17 and apparently signed by hospital CEO Elaine Glaser, that states the recognition was withdrawn because the union lost support from a majority of bargaining unit members.

“Specifically, we have verified that over 50 percent of the current bargaining unit RNs (registered nurses) signed cards indicating they did ‘not wish to be represented’ by the union ‘for the purpose of collective bargaining with my Employer,’” the letter states.

Union spokeswoman Dana Gentry said the SEIU represents 535 registered nurses at Valley Hospital Medical Center. At Desert Springs Hospital, the union represents 439 registered nurses and 91 health care technicians.

Contracts for nurses in bargaining units at both hospitals expired last May, Gentry said.

Both for-profit hospitals are owned by King of Prussia, Pennsylvania-based Universal Health Services Inc. and are part of The Valley Health System, a network of six local acute-care hospitals. The SEIU organized at both hospitals in 2000, Gentry said.

Last week, the union filed a complaint against Valley Hospital Medical Center with the U.S. National Labor Relations Board. The complaint alleges the hospital withdrew its recognition without producing proper evidence to back its claims about lost support.

UNLV law professor Ruben Garcia, a labor law expert, said the union’s complaint could reverse the hospital’s decision.

“If they’ve been found to improperly withdraw recognition, they’ll be forced to go back to the table and bargain in good faith,” he said.

MORE LABOR COMPLAINTS

Since September, the SEIU has submitted at least five complaints against Valley Hospital Medical Center to the NLRB.

The union claims the hospital stopped collecting union dues from employee paychecks seven months ago, restricted union representatives’ access to the hospital and removed postings from union bulletin boards at the hospital.

Another complaint accuses hospital management of implying that supporting the union would impede employees’ career advancement.

The NLRB has not held a hearing for most of the complaints yet, Gentry said. All cases remain open, according to the board’s website.

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.