(C) Daily Montanan
This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered.
 . . . . . . . . . .



St. Peter’s Health clinic nurses vote to join Montana Nurses Association – Daily Montanan [1]

['Nicole Girten', 'More From Author', '- October']

Date: 2023-10-18  

Clinic nurses at St. Peter’s Health voted 45-14 on Tuesday to join the existing Local #13 Montana Nurses Association union.

The vote followed controversy at the hospital after internal emails showed leadership provided details of nurses’ personal lives, from children to personality types, to a labor consultant described by MNA as a “union buster” whose findings were internally leaked.

In an interview Wednesday, MNA Labor Program Director Robin Haux said with the vote, 70 clinic nurses are automatically included in the Local #13 bargaining unit and have the right to request union representation in disciplinary meetings, or “Weingarten rights.” Nurses decided to vote to join the union after the hospital reduced personal leave benefits.

In a statement, MNA celebrated the election victory.

“Collective bargaining is the strongest tool to protect patient care and patient safety, moreover, giving nurses a voice to speak out collectively and advocate on behalf of themselves, their patients and their community,” the MNA statement read.

Haux said MNA has not heard from St. Peter’s Health leadership since the vote. In a statement Wednesday, St. Peter’s said the hospital respects the right of the nurses to be represented by a union.

“Going forward, we will work collaboratively with the union to negotiate a contract that is mutually beneficial for our nurses and the entire health system,” the statement read. “We value our people, and we’re committed to collaborations that will create positive change and a rewarding employee experience for our nurses and all of our team members at St. Peter’s Health.”

The hospital hired at least one union consultant, Niles Commer, who the organization described as a “labor educator,” after nurses expressed interest in joining the existing union.

Following the nurses’ discovery of the document containing personal details, St. Peter’s Health President Todd Wampler sent an email to nurses. It said in the course of conversations with the union consultant, “information was shared by our leaders about the types of individual exceptions we have made to accommodate employee schedules, life situations and personal challenges.”

The hospital subsequently fired Commer after the document was internally discovered and said in a statement last week it is conducting an internal investigation.

“It is our responsibility to safeguard the privacy and well-being of our employees, and as such, we take full responsibility for this incident occurring,” the statement read.

Nurses were shocked at the tactics used by the consultant, Haux said, and some trust was eroded. However, their goal now is to get to the bargaining table and have a collaborative discussion.

Haux couldn’t give specifics as to what nurses will be bargaining for but said wages and benefits would be part of the discussion. The new nurses don’t have to negotiate an entirely new contract, since they are joining an existing union. Haux said they’ll be asking for a modification of the currently negotiated contract with the acute care nurses to make sense with the needs of the clinical care nurses.

“Our stance is we don’t see the need to reinvent the wheel of things that were already working well,” she said.

St. Peter’s doesn’t have a deadline for responding to nurses, but the hospital is legally bound to bargain in good faith, Haux said.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/10/18/st-peters-health-clinic-nurses-vote-to-join-montana-nurses-association/

Published and (C) by Daily Montanan
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/