(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Labor complaint filed against Butte veterans' center – Daily Montanan [1] ['Keila Szpaller', 'More From Author', '- December'] Date: 2023-12-05 The Teamsters Local Union No. 2 has filed a complaint against the Southwest Montana Veterans’ Home alleging unfair labor practices. In a brief phone call Tuesday, Chris Cotton, administrator for the center in Butte, denied the allegations, filed this week with the National Labor Relations Board, or NLRB. Erin Foley, principal officer for the Local, filed the complaint as workers head into a union election Dec. 19 and 20 to decide whether certified nursing assistants at the facility will unionize. The complaint alleges the employer threatened employees with losing bonuses if they unionize and directed them to alert their coworkers, according to a copy of supporting information filed with the complaint. Historically, Butte has been a labor stronghold, and unionization has seen a resurgence around the country. However, a recent unionization effort in Helena came with allegations of union-busting, and a labor watchdog said healthcare is the top spending industry on union busting. Just last week, Foley and the labor watchdog said they were on high alert because Eduro Healthcare, which operates the facility of 44 beds, delayed the election date — a tactic a LaborLab spokesperson said is a common strategy in working against union efforts. At the time, a lawyer for Eduro said its interest in postponing the vote was to ensure all workers could vote during their regular shifts and denied any union-busting intentions. In an interview Tuesday, Foley said Cotton told a couple of CNAs their bonuses were in jeopardy if they supported the union, and she said a scheduler was making the same claims to employees. “I’m actually sending a letter to him (Cotton), and then I will send a letter to all the employees as well, saying, ‘You need to cease and desist,’” Foley said. “This is a violation of the NLRB.” In a phone call, Cotton said he had not seen a copy of the complaint but denied telling employees they would lose their bonuses. “I can tell you I’ve never threatened anyone with anything like that,” Cotton said. Foley said she was in the midst of gathering more information about the bonuses, such as how much they have been, but believes one typically comes around the holidays. She also said once a labor petition is filed, the law requires an employer to maintain the status quo: “If they (employees) get a bonus every year, they (the employer) can’t stop giving it now.” She said she was disappointed to hear about the threats because the center and Eduro, based in Salt Lake City, earlier pledged to remain neutral. “Literally, the next day, they weren’t neutral anymore,” Foley said. The center counts roughly 90 employees. The effort to unionize would only cover the facility’s 26 or so CNAs, among the lowest paid workers in the healthcare industry. Foley said the NLRB will investigate the complaint. If the investigation finds a violation occurred, she said a new rule means the workers could be mandatorily recognized as part of the union without an election. “It’s a rule that finally gives unions a little upper hand to combat these employers who try to union-bust all the time,” Foley said. She also said she believes the investigation will take place quickly given the complaint was filed just before an election. [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/12/05/labor-complaint-filed-against-butte-veterans-center/ 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/