No Date for Sweet Brook Union Election
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"They've postponed it. I think what's significant about that is there are many different elections where there are charges but [the elections] still go forward," said 1199SEIU Executive Vice President Michael Fadel last week. "In a small number of cases, the board makes a decision not to ... that there can only be a free and untainted election, pending the resolution of those complaints."
Workers at Sweet Brook were to vote on whether to organize and join 1199 Service Employees International Union last Thursday. The union's lawyers, however, requested in a hand-delivered letter to Labor Board Regional Director Rosemary Pye last Monday that the election be halted because "[the employer] has destroyed any possibility of employees making a free choice in the election."
At issue are allegations that parent corporatioon Northern Berkshire Healthcare and Sweet Brook management have intimidated workers and blocked efforts to disseminate union materials.
An internal e-mail from Nothern Berkshire Healthcare's Vice President of Human Resources Arthur Scott discussing how the health system responds to unfair labor complaints infuriated union officials.
Scott wrote to the executive team that he believed there was a legitimate defense to decisions made by the health care system and that "because the NLRB process is so lengthy and the potential penalties so minor, I think we should continue with our current practice."
The e-mail does not state what that practice is, but rather explains the Labor Board's decision-making process. Essentially, any ruling against the health system would carry no significant penalties. Fadel called the e-mail "pretty shocking and cavalier."
Health care system officials have stated their primary concern is making sure every employee is fully informed before casting a vote.
"We're very confident that our managers have acted legally and appropriately," said Vice President of External Affairs Dianne Cutillo last week.
SEIU filed a flurry of unfair labor complaints with the Labor Board within days of Scott's e-mail surfacing; an earlier complaint dated Feb. 27 claims the organizers were not allowed to distribute or post union materials. NBH, meanwhile, has appealed an earlier ruling by the Labor Board's Region 1 over which workers are qualified to vote.
Fadel said the vote was delayed but the organizing committee was "very active." "From our perspective, they are a union, they are working together to want to make conditins better at the home."
