Labor unions stage rally at EMMC

BANGOR – Union leaders held a rally Tuesday afternoon outside Eastern Maine Medical Center to draw attention to anticipated federal rulings that they claim could adversely affect workers’ rights and patient care across the country.

Decisions that the National Labor Relations Board likely will make in the next several weeks could redefine what kind of workers should be considered supervisors, union officials said at the rally. If the board makes a broad ruling that unionized employees who oversee the work of fellow employees should be considered management representatives, those employees could be denied union representation.

“The Bush-appointed NLRB has ruled against workers every single time,” Jack McKay, president of Eastern Maine Labor Council, said at the rally. The board, whose members are appointed by President Bush, may use a 2001 U.S. Supreme Court ruling to justify the new interpretation of the supervisor’s role, he said.

Members of the Maine State Nurses Union, AFL-CIO and other unions were among the approximately 40 people at the rally. Two of the three cases pending before NLRB that may affect the definition of a supervisor involve health care facilities in Dearborn, Mich., and Hibbing, Minn.

Judy Brown, president of the local chapter of the nurses union, said patient care could be affected if some nurses are deemed to be ineligible for union representation because they oversee the work of fellow employees. Some studies have shown that patient care is better at hospitals with union representation, she said.

If NLRB changes the definition of supervisors as the unions expect, she said, all nurses – who often oversee nurses aides – potentially could be considered supervisors.

“We feel unionized hospitals have a more stable work force overall,” she said.

The rally was one of several similar union demonstrations that are expected to take place this week around the country.

Earlier on Tuesday, EMMC issued a statement about the union demonstration.

“EMMC has taken no position” on the Supreme Court ruling or the cases pending before NLRB, the statement said. “[The hospital] is not the subject of the nurses’ protest.”