Union and SRMC continue to argue publicly despite contract being reached

RIO RANCHO — Do PRN’s belong in the AFT United Health Professionals Union bargaining unit as it pertains to Sandoval Regional Medical Center? This is an unanswered question as the union and hospital continue to argue.

Their latest disagreement came up at the Nov. 13 Sandoval County commission meeting, starting with an update from SRMC President Jamie Silva-Steele.

“I wanted to start out with a quick update on labor relations matters that we’ve been undergoing at the hospital. In September, we were able to sit down with the AFT United Health Professionals Union and have nine successful bargaining sessions and negotiation sessions with the caveat that there was still pending litigation on the PRN staff matter,” Silva-Steele said.

She went on to say PRNs are part-time staff and have been part of a long-standing issue in the contract. For now, the PRNs are included in the contract with the understanding that it could change based on the results of the pending litigation.

According to court records, a judge decided Nov. 1 that PRNs do not count as regular employees. Silva-Steele told the commission that decision was provided to the Public Employee Labor Relations Board and on Nov. 12 discussed possible recommendations on if PRNs should be included in the union contract. Their recommendation is due to be released in the coming week. The board would then vote on the matter.

“If there is a significant majority showing support, then things would continue to move forward, if I understand it, and if not, then there would be an election of what I’m understanding. We don’t have any other information at this point on that matter,” Silva-Steele said.

Commissioner Josh Jones asked about the hospital’s reasoning for not wanting to include PRNs in the union.

“The position of the hospital is that PRNs are not considered regular staff. They don’t have benefits. They’re used as needed to fill in holes and vacancies in the schedule. There is a commitment that they have to provide us of so many shifts in a month, but those are arbitrary and so if we do not need them, we don’t use them. That’s the difference, basically, versus regular staff who are benefited staff, have a schedule, we have rely on whatever FTE local FD that they have to be present and cover their shifts,” Silva-Steele said.

Jones also asked how often PRNs work. Silva-Steele said it is dependent on which department the PRNs are in.

Commissioner Katherine Bruch asked if there was a specific reason the hospital has taken this position.

Silva-Steele said they base their model off of other hospitals in the area, adding that most hospitals don’t include PRNs as regular staff and part of the union. She further stated that UNM Hospital downtown doesn’t include PRNs in the bargaining unit.

Bruch noted that the New Mexico Supreme Court told UNM in their 1998 decision that they rejected a previous attempt by UNM to exclude public employees.

“So now that the union is formed, is there any reason all employees shouldn’t have that?” Bruch asked

Silva-Steele stated she didn’t know how to answer that question. “I think it’s complicated. I think that we’ve been reliant on the courts to guide us in this way, and so this most recent ruling is something that I think many people were surprised with. So that is why we petitioned the labor board to seek clarification on what does this mean now,” she said.

Jones and Bruch wanted to know when a decision would be reached.

Silva-Steele left the meeting after her presentation, but the conversation of the disagreement between the union and the hospital continued in public comment by registered nurse and chief organizer for UHPNM Adrienne Enghouse.

“Again, there’s been some inaccuracies brought to you this evening. To Commissioner Bruch’s question about PRNs, many hospitals in New Mexico and private sector do recognize PRNs under their union contracts,” she said.

She named Christus St. Vincent in Santa Fe and Taos hospitals as examples. She also mentioned that hospitals all over the United States recognize PRNs in unions.

“AFT is the fastest-growing health care Union. We represent some of the largest contracts in the country. They all have PRNs in them, and those are both private and public-sector unions, so there is no reason why they aren’t recognizing them voluntarily,” Enghouse added.

She also told commissioners that the hospital’s position on the matter is a choice they have made, saying they have gone out of their way to hire an “expensive” law firm to represent them on the matter “despite the fact that they have access to UNM council, so they’re wasting our tax dollars fighting the unions and just looking for another reason and another movement,” she said.

It appears the matter will not be settled until the PELRB recommends action.