A nursing home for veterans held a second union election after management labor violations tainted the first one.
The facility, located in Lebanon, Oregon, is run by nonprofit Veterans Care Centers of Oregon. United Steelworkers of America (USW) represents about 170 workers at a veterans nursing home in The Dalles, Oregon, that is run by the same group. Workers approved the union by 75 to 63.
USW District 12 staff representative Jim Kilborn says more than 60 percent of the Lebanon nursing home’s 215 workers had signed union authorization cards as of Feb. 7, when USW asked the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold a union election.
But when the election was held on March 4, the tally was 58 to 59: USW lost by one vote.
Kilborn says some union supporters didn’t cast ballots because managers were loitering near the balloting area. And that tactic was the culmination of a series of coercive statements and actions by nursing home managers.
Three pro-union workers were given formal warnings for passing out union literature in the parking lot and in the break room, and sending pro-union text messages. Managers also told employees not to talk about the union while working. One worker — told to leave for talking about the union — was followed out of the building.
Managers also said there would be no union, and that a union wouldn’t be able to help.
All of those things violated federal labor law, USWÂ charged. The NLRB agreed. The NLRB also objected to employee handbook policies that prohibited workers from distributing union literature, and barred workers from being on the premises when off the clock.
To settle the charges with the NLRB, Veterans Care Centers of Oregon agreed to revise its handbook, rescind the discipline of the three workers, and cooperate on a new election, which took place May 20. The proposed collective bargaining unit includes registered nurses, certified nurse assistants, licensed practical nurses, medical records clerks, activities coordinators, barbers, and maintenance and transportation workers.
Meanwhile, workers at the nursing home in The Dalles expect to vote soon on a tentative three-year agreement that will raise wages 15 percent. For the first time, the agreement also includes union security — a requirement that all represented workers pay union dues.
