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Judge rules SRMC must bargain with union
Published
Modified
A district court judge denied a request Thursday from the University of New Mexico Sandoval Regional Medical Center to avoid bargaining with the United Health Professionals New Mexico division of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), which represents UNM SRMC workers.
In a 10-page order, Second Judicial District Court Judge Nancy Franchini denied UNM SRMC’s request to delay bargaining.
“The Court concludes that the only injury (UNM SRMC) has demonstrated is continuing negotiation, which is not substantial. … The Court concludes that a stay in this matter is not warranted,” Franchini wrote.
The ruling echoes the state’s Public Employee Labor Relations Board order that the hospital must bargain with UHPNM/AFT.
UNM SRMC filed a court motion on June 6 asking Franchini to relieve it from the duty to bargain.
“If the PELRB’s order is not stayed, UNM SRMC will be required to negotiate and, potentially, ratify a collective bargaining agreement. … The negotiation process inherently creates expense and disruption for an employer and UNM SRMC is no exception,” the motion said.
Shane Youtz, lawyer for the United Health Professionals of New Mexico, celebrated the ruling.
“UNM SRMC has run out of excuses to avoid the bargaining table. The court has told them that they must bargain with the union on all terms and conditions of employment, including the PRNs with the other nurses and health professionals in a contract,” Youtz said. “It is hard to believe that a public institution has misrepresented itself to the public. They keep saying they want to bargain, all the while using the legal system to do the opposite — to stop bargaining. That charade comes to an end today.”
A UNM SRMC representative said the hospital is looking at the ruling and is open to negotiating with UHPNM/AFT.
“Taking care of our employees who deliver high-quality and safe patient care every day is a top priority at UNM Sandoval Regional Medical Center – A Campus of UNM Hospital (SRMC),” UNM Health Sciences External Communications Manager Nicole San Roman said. “SRMC is currently reviewing and evaluating the most recent District Court ruling in order to determine next steps. As stated previously, SRMC would like to reach an agreement with United Health Professionals of New Mexico, a division of the American Federation of Teachers that is equitable and consistent with agreements in place with other unions throughout the UNM Health System.”
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Franchini’s ruling also allows PRNs to be included in the bargaining unit, which had been a major sticking point in negotiations between the hospital and UHPNM. PRN is Latin for “pro re nata,” which translates to “as the need arises.”
The argument centered around whether PRN employees are freelance, temporary employees and not regular employees of the hospital.
According to the ruling though, PRNs are directly employed by the hospital and are used on an as-needed basis to fill a vacancy or gap in a schedule. They work on a continuous basis, the court wrote, and must be available to work at least eight hours per week.
“PRNs and other employees all perform the same work, and are not contract employees,” Franchini wrote.
Randi Weingarten, president of the AFT, said the hospital’s ongoing litigation to avoid bargaining has put patients in jeopardy.
“Our members as represented by their union have had one goal — to secure fairness in the workplace for the work they do and the patients they serve. Our union has worked for over two years to meet at the bargaining table and problem solve on ways to improve patient and working conditions,” Weingarten said. “This shouldn’t have been controversial; this should have always been something the hospital would want as well. Patients deserve a well-staffed hospital, and workers deserve conditions that encourage them to stay and be able to do the kind of job they were trained to perform.”
The AFT is the nation’s second-largest health care union.
“We are ready and anxious to get to the bargaining table to discuss critically important issues, like coming up with solutions to reversing the devastating staff shortage that is hampering patient and working conditions,” Youtz said. “We offered to meet them today to begin bargaining, but they declined again.”
The union also continues to ask for the 3% pay raise that the UNM Health System has given to its other workers.
In another ruling Thursday, the state Public Employee Labor Relations Board affirmed an order allowing union staffers in break rooms and allowed lead organizer Adrienne Enghouse, R.N., to enter UNM SRMC. However, the union said it attempted to come to the hospital to represent its members on Thursday afternoon but the hospital denied union access as ordered by the state labor board.
