Some Erlanger Nurses Considering Forming A Union

  • Saturday, June 13, 2020

A group of Erlanger Health System nurses, citing a number of grievances, said they are considering forming a union.

Hospital administrators say they have been forced to make a number of cutbacks due to funding shortfalls because of the coronavirus. 

The hospital terminated 11 top administrators on Thursday.

A letter the group said it sent to Erlanger officials says:

Erlanger Administration:

Due to recent administrative decisions that the majority of the nursing staff feel were made without taking our rights into consideration, which has created an environment where employees are working in fear and intimidation for their jobs, and which has created a hardship for us to do our jobs safely and efficiently, I have begun talking with employees about starting a union at Erlanger.  Nurses advocate for our patients, but we now need someone to advocate for us.  In recent months, our promised benefits have been denied us, we have been burdened with unsafe nurse/patient ratios, and nursing staff members have been wrongfully terminated.  Many other nurses and techs have resigned to go find jobs elsewhere due to their feeling unvalued by Erlanger Administration.

We need excellent nurses to keep Erlanger’s patient care at the same quality it has been for years, but the last several months Erlanger has eliminated many skilled, experienced nurses who have loyally devoted themselves to Erlanger for many years; seasoned nurses who were necessary to help train newer nurses at a teaching hospital.  Erlanger has quickly become a hospital with a high nurse turnaround rate with a majority of floor nurses being newer to the field.  The fact that Administration shows no concern about this is alarming.  New nurses can become excellent, experienced nurses over time provided they have adequate mentorship. 

We cannot afford to lose any more nurses, techs or other medical staff.  The Covid-19 crisis has been hard on everyone, and stress levels and senses of being overwhelmed are at an all-time high.  However, Administration has not taken that into consideration in the treatment of its employees (before using termination as an initial course of action against nurses who have excellent work records, for example.) 

Many of the Erlanger medical and nursing staff feel that we no longer have a voice.  Concerns and complaints are met with bureaucratic responses with no solutions or even a hint that our concerns are being taken into consideration at all.  Very little has been done in regards to any of the issues brought to administration’s attention.  The blame for all problems is nearly always casually deflected back onto the ones raising the concerns. 
All decisions made in the last several months seem to be concerned only with making/saving money (even if it’s at the expense of those working on the frontlines) and lording control over the staff, creating a hostile work environment for those of us who are just trying to be able to do our jobs. 

We mainly need the proper staff to provide excellent patient care effectively and safely, and the more we ask for it, the more administration terminates (or runs off) more staff, making it worse.  This has become a vicious cycle that has to end. 

Erlanger has created the textbook scenario to necessitate unionization over the past several months.  Therefore, many of us feel that there is no other option than to form a union that will strive to make Erlanger a workplace where we can do our jobs without feeling threatened.  We need a union to fight for the benefits that we were promised upon being hired and to keep administration from constantly making decisions that impacts staff without staff having any say in the matter. 

I am invoking my rights under the National Labor Relations Act, and I have begun talking to employees about starting a union at Erlanger without fear of threats or retaliation.  I have also contacted union organizers to help in this process.  Any other employees that discuss unionization, who are in favor of a union, or who participate in concerted activities to form a union are also protected by the NLRA. 

Our initial concerted activities will be in an effort to have our benefits returned, to establish a due process for employees being disciplined (or terminated), to demand the reinstatement of seasoned nurses who have recently been terminated unfairly (in order to send a message of hostility to your employees), and to decrease patient to nurse ratios.  The means that we will use will consist of written requests, petitions, public picketing, and news media. 

Administration needs to recognize that there have been unfair terminations recently (in multiple units) which have created a hostile work environment and has actually served as the main catalyst for employees to begin discussing unionization.  Many of these terminated nurses were well known and respected throughout our Erlanger family, and it has really decreased employee morale.  The extreme disciplinary actions that was chosen, (to abruptly terminate staff for minor infractions,) sends a message to employees that we are working in a threatening and fear-driven environment and that administration is making harsh, emotional (not professional) decisions in order to keep the environment a hostile one.  There are many other issues also in play, but these recent terminations have been the breaking point for many employees and have validated the necessity for a Union. 

We ask Erlanger Administration, in good faith, to comply with the following requests in order to extend an olive branch to the employees and indicate that you actually value us and that you are willing to begin listening to us and seriously take our concerns under consideration:

1.

Return our earned benefits (PTO, matched retirement, incentive pay) immediately.

2. Reevaluate the experience and track records of any nurses and techs who were terminated during this calendar year.  Take into consideration the additional stress and burdens placed on them during the Covid-19 crisis, and consider reinstating as many as possible in order to give us back the experienced staff numbers we need. 

This letter will also be circulated among Erlanger employees in discussions of unionization.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey S. Holland, LPN – NW8
Erlanger Union Advocate

The group said the letter was sent to administration:

William L. Jackson, Jr., MD, MBA – President/CEO
Jan Keys, DNP, RN FACHE – Senior Vice President/CNE
Jim Bolton, MD – Chief of Staff
Chris Young, MD – Vice Chief of Staff
Chris Poole, MD – Secretary of Medical Staff
Jay Sizemore, MD – Past Chief of Staff
Angela Basham-Saif – Associate Chief Nursing Officer


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