The California Nurses Association is attempting to bypass dealing directly with the Texas nurses they propose to represent until they have tilted the playing field in their favor. If they are successful with this new, slick method of harvesting union dues, they stand a good chance of railroading nurses across the state into the union fold.
The National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation helped two nurses file Unfair Labor Practice charges with the NLRB, charging that the “Election Procedures Agreement” that the CNA negotiated with Tenet Healthcare hospitals subverts the role of the NLRB in supervising union certification elections, and bypasses employee protections.
Other specifications of the agreement decried as violating federal law include:
• Tenet managers are gagged from responding to employee questions about unionization
• Nurses who oppose the union are forbidden from using Tenet facilities to express their views
• Pro-CNA nurses and union organizers (even non-employees) are given access to Tenet facilities.
With Tenet gagged, and the NLRB out of the picture, that leaves only one entity with the megaphone (and the usual strong-arm tactics). This does not bode well for the nurses.
