Unions in the Healthcare Industry

Unions in the Healthcare Industry

Unions in healthcare

Labor-related issue: Unions in the healthcare industry

Labor-related issue: Unions in the healthcare industry

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is the fastest-growing union in America today, despite the general downward trend of union membership in the nation overall. The SEIU is a large, broad-based union, drawing members from a diverse range of industries. According to its website, since its inception in 1996, the SEIU's membership has swelled to 1.2 million. It encompasses workers in three key sectors of the American economy: it is the largest healthcare union; the largest property services union (with members in both the building cleaning and security industries); and the second largest public employee union.

The SEIU currently represents housekeepers working at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach involved in a labor dispute. The Union entered into contract negotiations with the hospital after the hospital decided to outsource control of the housekeeping unit the Pennsylvania-based Xanitos Company. As a result, Xanitos redefined the terms of the service workers' contracts. The issues under dispute are as follows. The housekeepers accuse St. Mary's of 1. Failing to honor their union contract by outsourcing housekeeping-related tasks and eliminating a number of union-protected jobs; 2. Allowing Xanitos to force staff members to undergo credit and criminal background checks; 3.Forcing the workers to take literacy tests for skills not immediately relevant to their employment, including workers who have performed their duties with excellent service records for many years; 4. Forcing union members to take drug tests; 5. Requiring the worker to take nicotine tests to prove that they do not smoke during non-work hours (Green 2010).

Some of the issues involved in the lawsuit touch upon the question of disparate impact labor legislation. -- "Federal legislation enacted in 1991 says that if the employees prove that a practice causes a disparate impact, then the employer must demonstrate that the practice is job related for the position in question and consistent with business necessity" (Runkel 2006). The outsourcing company refused to retain a number of the workers because of literacy restrictions, stating they had heavy accents, and that it was necessary for patient safety that all workers were fluent in English. Yet one of the union members fired who failed a literacy test because of her heavy accent noted that she was often asked to translate for hospital staff, to facilitate communication between caregivers and Creole-speaking patients, as well as perform housekeeping duties. She also had an excellent performance record at the hospital (Green 2010). Based upon such examples union contends the new, additional requirements seem to be a violation of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission requirements and civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination based upon race, ethnicity, and other attributes not specifically germane to the job. The union thus acts as an advocate for worker's legal rights, including their right not to be subject to drug tests as well (although this issue is far more contentious, given that Xanitos also argues that testing is required from the point-of-view of patient safety.

A more controversial drug testing issue is prohibiting all workers from using tobacco, a controversial practice that has become increasingly common amongst healthcare establishments. "More hospitals and medical businesses in many states are adopting strict policies that make smoking a reason to turn away job applicants, saying they want to increase worker productivity, reduce health care costs and encourage healthier living" (Sulzberger 2011: 1). However, the union argues "such policies are a slippery slope -- that if they prove successful in driving down health care costs, employers might be emboldened to crack down on other behavior by their workers, like drinking alcohol, eating fast food and participating in risky hobbies like motorcycle riding" (Sulzberger 2011: 1).