However, in recent history, the NLRB has not always been a 'friend' to nurses. Precisely who constitutes a supervisor and an employee is of critical importance in determining who has the right to engage in collective bargaining under the law. In 2006, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) "dealt a severe blow to nurses' and other workers' rights to join unions and bargain collectively….the board ruled that many charge nurses were supervisors, and therefore excluded from the protections under the National Labor Relations Act" (NLRB, 2006, AFSCME). The relative ease of defining certain employees as supervisors has been used to limit the ability of nurses to strike. According to the current terms of the National Labor Relations Act, a supervisor is "any individual having the authority, in the interest of the employer, to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other employees, or responsibly to direct them, or to adjust their grievances, or effectively to recommend such action, if in connection with the foregoing the exercise of such authority is not of a merely routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment" (NLRB, 2006, AFSCME). By holding that a supervisor need only perform ONE of these actions, many ordinary staff nurses were subsumed under the category of 'supervisor,' simply because they direct other employees as part of their nursing duties.
However, the NLRB has also strongly supported nurse's rights in other instances. "The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has found that Virginia Mason Medical Center engaged in unfair labor practices by requiring nurses who didn't get flu shots to wear masks" (Ostrom 2006). While not all rulings of the NLRB have been favorable to nurses, and rulings may vary from...
Given the stresses nurses labor under, it is vital that nurses fight to protect their rights and are aware of current rulings by the NLRB and how its interpretations of the law may affect their organizations and profession.
Labor Relations What do you believe are the benefits to being an employee of a company vs. A contractor? Which would you prefer to be? Why? The benefits of being an employee include the right to self-organization, to bargain collectively, or form a labor organization (Carrell & Heavrin, 2007). Employees have pre-determined work days and duties under the leadership and direction of the employer and are not required to incur costs or
Labor Law: Collective Bargaining It is set out in 29 U.S.C. § 158: U.S. Code -- Section 158: Unfair Labor Practices that unfair labor practices by an employer include the following: It is an unfair labor practice for an employer to: (1) interfere with two or more employees acting in unison to protect rights that the Act provides for whether there is the existence of a Union or no existing union; (2) to dominate
Labor Relations What changes are needed for unions to maintain support from their membership, the community, and the employers? In order to maintain support from their membership, the community, and the employers, unions have decided to change the dynamics of organizing by changing the environment and conditions where organizing occurs. They have become conversant with the idea that when the employers decide to use the entire 'arsenal' at their disposal, it becomes
This was certainly needed as technology has also evolved from time to time and the nature of labor that was being used in the 1920s or so is not the same as is the nature today. This is certainly commendable. Along with the changes in laws, the emphasis on labor and its problems have also been shifted out of the center stage and matters that were directly being dealt
Labor The Department of Labor is present today to promote, foster and develop the welfare of the employees or the labor force in the United States. The labor system focuses on the improvement of the working conditions and the fulfillment of opportunities for more profitable employment. As it would be known, rules and regulations are there to keep things in order. Similarly, the Labor system in the country is guided by
Prescription coverage is one of the most difficult features of medical coverage to find in the private market, and is also one of the most expensive. The deductible and percentage coverage of the new medical plan described in the case study is certainly reasonable for the employees, and the savings to the company will allow their continued operation. If the company fails, the employees will not be receiving any