For Immediate Release
Wednesday, May 30, 2001
Conservative Court Deals Blow to Nurse Organizing
U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 Decision Will Worsen Severe Shortage Nationwide of Nurses
Washington, DC —Yesterday's narrow Supreme Court decision to deny nurses who help direct less-skilled employees the right to belong to a union will also exacerbate an already critical nursing shortage around the country, said the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO today.
"RNs are dedicated professionals who have earned the right to unionize if they see fit," said President Gerald W. McEntee. "But this misguided Court decision will only turn off more and more of them to jobs that are increasingly impossible to manage."
In NLRB v. Kentucky River Community Care, the Court majority disagreed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)'s interpretation of federal law, arguing that nurses who ordinarily help less-skilled workers to deliver services could be classified by their employers as "supervisors" under this interpretation and as such were not allowed to organize under the National Labor Relations Act. The majority opinion was signed by justices Antonin Scalia, William Rehnquist, Clarence Thomas, Anthony Kennedy, and Sandra Day O' Connor — the same five justices who have turned back the clock on worker, civil, voting, and other rights in a number of recent cases.
But the dissent signed by the four remaining justices forcefully defended the NLRB's position as "fully rational and consistent" that the six registered nurses in question were not supervisors because they did not exercise "independent judgment" in direction of less-skilled employees. The four also said that the majority's extremely broad definition of the term "supervisor" under the Act threatens the right of other professional employees to organize.
The nationwide nursing crisis has received increased attention in media outlets over the past year. As the nursing and patient populations grow older, pay and benefits stagnate, and working conditions deteriorate, RNs and other nurses are leaving the profession in droves, leaving hospitals and other facilities unable to meet growing patient demands for quality health care.
Unions such as the United Nurses of America (UNA), an affiliate of AFSCME, make it easier to attract and retain nurses by forcing management to address these problems and show them more respect. "We are working hard to alleviate the shortage by encouraging governments and employers to provide better working conditions and incentives for current and prospective nurses," said UNA Co-Chair Kathy Sackman..
AFSCME/UNA represents over 50,000 registered and licensed practical nurses who work in a variety of health care settings around the nation.
