Diedre Murch, MNA
517.349.5640, ext. 220
517.449.7316
or
Ann Kettering Sincox, MNA
517.349.5640, ext. 242
517.256.2312 (cell), ann.sincox@minurses.org

August 31, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LABOR CHARGES FILED AGAINST MUSKEGON EMPLOYER

Muskegon, MI – The Michigan Nurses Association (MNA), representing the registered nurses at the Mercy VNS (formerly Hackley Visiting Nurse Services & Hospice, Inc.) has filed an Unfair Labor Practice Charge and a Unit Clarification Petition with the National Labor Relations Board against the employer. The ULP charges include favoritism by the employer towards another union including insisting that the nurses will not be represented by the MNA when the nurses have lawfully already chosen MNA as their bargaining agent.

On August 26, 2009, Mercy VNS and Hospice, Inc. formally told the MNA that they were significantly changing the nurses’ terms and conditions of employment as a result of a merger, which is a direct violation of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). According to the NLRA, the Employer has a duty to bargain with the MNA and cannot unilaterally change the nurses’ terms and conditions of employment for a period of one year after the election.

“The employer is deliberately going against the nurses’ wishes,” said Anita Szczepanski, MNA Labor Attorney. “The nurses have made it clear they wish to have their own union with MNA as their bargaining agent. They have worked diligently to have a voice in their workplace. We are not going to allow the employer to blatantly violate the law without consequences.”

Additional charges include threatening to withhold a scheduled improvement in a benefit regarding pay for meetings and discrimination towards an employee for her involvement in union activities.
The MNA’s Unit Clarification Petition requests the NLRB to clarify the unit of RNs who choose to have MNA represent them and seeks to include all Registered Nurses of the newly formed employer in the MNA bargaining unit.

The Michigan Nurses Association is the largest, most effective union for RNs in Michigan. As the voice of all registered nurses in Michigan, MNA advocates for nurses and their patients at the State Capitol, in the community and at the bargaining table.  MNA is a constituent member of the United American Nurses and an affiliate of the AFL-CIO.