Nurses seek removal of SEIU amid policy shifts impacting decertification votes

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GLOBAL INDUSTRY NEWS

Blaine L. Hutchison | Staff Attorney (2019-Present) | NRTWLD&EF, Inc

By Sky Industry News

Oct 29, 2024

Registered Nurses at Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville Township, New Jersey, have initiated a petition for a vote to remove United Healthcare Workers East (1199SEIU), an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, from their workplace. The petition was filed by Registered Nurse Nancy Bombaro with Region 22 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and supported by legal assistance from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.

The NLRB is tasked with enforcing federal labor laws, including overseeing elections for union certification or decertification. Bombaro's petition reportedly exceeds the required number of signatures needed to initiate a decertification vote under the National Labor Relations Act. However, there are indications that the NLRB may block this vote at the request of SEIU union officials.

In New Jersey, where Right to Work protections do not apply to private sector workers, SEIU officials can mandate union dues or fees as employment conditions. A successful decertification in such states would remove these obligations and prevent union officials from imposing uniform contracts on all employees.

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Despite having enough signatures for a decertification vote, recent changes in NLRB policy under the Biden-Harris Administration could hinder this process. The new policy reinstates "blocking charges," which are often unproven allegations of employer misconduct used by unions to delay decertification votes. SEIU leaders are reportedly using these charges against the nurses' efforts.

"My fellow nurses and I are not pleased with the performance of 1199SEIU union officials and simply want to exercise our right to vote out this union," stated Bombaro. She expressed frustration over policies that allow union officials to prevent them from voting.

The Biden-Harris NLRB's rule change reverses previous reforms known as the Election Protection Rule, which were designed to prevent blocking charges from halting worker-requested decertification elections and allowed secret ballot petitions after unions gained power through "card check."

Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation, criticized the new rule: "Just weeks after the Biden-Harris NLRB enacted its cynical rule change, union officials are already manipulating it to maintain their own power while crushing the free choice rights of the workers they claim to ‘represent.’"

Bombaro and her colleagues represent a growing number of workers seeking independence from unwanted unions amid political changes perceived as favoring organized labor over individual worker rights.