MountainView using threats to deter nurses, union alleges (NLRB charges filed)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jul/18/mountainview-using-threats-deter-nurses-union-alle/

By Marshall Allen (contact)

Saturday, July 18, 2009 | 2 a.m.

MountainView Hospital administrators are accused of intimidation, making threats and using religion in their fight against a nurses union attempt to organize, according to a federal complaint filed by the union.

The complaint, filed Tuesday by the California Nurses Association with the National Labor Relations Board, is based on the kind of allegations that unions are known to make in the heat of a battle. Union officials declined to provide evidence to back up their claims, citing the labor board’s investigation.

As for the allegation about religion, Lisa Morowitz, lead organizer with the union, said administrators are implying to nurses who may oppose abortion for religious reasons that the union favors abortion rights.

The union does not take a stance on abortion and includes 86,000 nurses who hold diverse opinions on the issue, Morowitz said.

The complaint postpones the union election that had been scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday at the hospital, which is owned by Tennessee-based Hospital Corporation of America.

MountainView executives have been clear about their intent to persuade nurses not to vote for the union, but they deny breaking the law.

The hospital responded to the complaint with a statement: “The filing by the California nurses union is a typical stall tactic. Our nurses want an election. We want an election. The only group that doesn’t want an election is the union because our nurses are going to vote against them and they know it.”