National Labor Relations Board files formal complaint against Borgess Medical Center for violating federal law

Kalamazoo hospital faces serious charges of federal labor law violations, litigation ahead

(Kalamazoo, MI) The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has filed a formal complaint against Borgess Medical Center (BMC) after the hospital issued public statements refusing to settle allegations of serious violations of the National Labor Relations Act initiated by the Michigan Nurses Association (MNA), the union representing the more than 700 professional registered nurses of the Borgess Staff Nurse Council. Borgess faces a legal hearing before an administrative law judge, likely within 60 days.

According to the NLRB complaint, Borgess management faces many charges including: coercively interrogating employees about their union membership, activities and sympathies; threatening nurses that a lockout by Borgess could result in the nurse’s discharge or permanent loss of employment; unlawfully equating support for MNA with disloyalty to Borgess; and of unlawfully discriminating against nurses because of their support for MNA and to discourage other employees from supporting the union. The complaint also concludes that Borgess failed to bargain in good faith during the course of negotiations with MNA.

“The NLRB’s complaint is vindication to nurses that they are victims of abuse by Borgess hospital,” said John Karebian, MNA Executive Director. “The NLRB Complaint charges hospital management with serious labor law violations. Borgess management has now arrogantly ignored the NLRB’s attempt to resolve these charges and settle with the nurses,” Karebian said. “This case has now become the United States government versus Borgess Medical Center and Ascension Health for serious corporate violations of federal labor law.”

Nurses have continued to care for hospital patients since March 19, 2010, when their contract expired at BMC. Borgess is owned by the St. Louis-based Ascension Health System.

“Once again, nurses call on Borgess management to stop its unlawful activity and return to the bargaining table to negotiate a fair and just contract,” Karebian said.

KALAMAZOO — During contract negotiations with Borgess Medical Center, nurses were threatened with a possible lockout, interrogated about their union activities and told there would be “economic penalties” if the union representing them did not agree to a hospital-proposed contract, according to a formal complaint filed against the hospital by the National Labor Relations Board.

The complaint alleges unfair labor practices by the hospital earlier this year when it was in negotiations with the 700-member Borgess Staff Nurse Council and the Michigan Nurses Association, a statewide nurses union representing the council, according to the complaint, a copy of which was obtained by the Kalamazoo Gazette.

Borgess Monday rejected a settlement proposed by the National Labor Relations Board that would have voided the complaint.  The hospital must provide the board with a written response to the complaint by July 26. A hearing before an administrative law judge is scheduled for Oct. 4.

On Monday, an official with the labor board had said the formal complaint would be filed in the next few days if no settlement was reached; however, the complaint was actually filed Monday.

“Whenever we issue a complaint, we always look for a settlement,” said Stephen Glasser, the labor board’s Region 7 director, who said the board can make minor changes to its settlement proposal to try and reach agreement with Borgess.

Borgess declined to respond to allegations in the complaint, instead referring to a written statement it released Monday.

Read the full article here.

Hello everyone and welcome to the updated Borgess Medical Center MNA home page!

The site has undergone a major redesign, incorporating WordPress software.  This powerful tool will make it easier to get the information you’re looking for.  You can now search the site using the search tool on the left.  All posts will now be categorized and tagged as well, which will allow you to pull up all information about any single topic with a single click.  WordPress will now maintain an archive of our posts, so information will no longer simply disappear after it is bumped off of the main page.  All of the information in the top tabs remains the same, and their contents are included in the search database.

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Brian Thomas
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