NLRB Office Affirms 1199SEIU As Representative Of Nearly 1,000 Boston Medical Center Nurses

The Boston Regional Director of National Labor Relations Board dismissed an effort to force an election involving nurses long represented by 1199SEIU United Health Care Workers East. Attorney David Rome successfully represented 1199SEIU in this matter.

The NLRB generally will not force an election upon a group of employees during the life of a valid collective bargaining agreement. This rule is known as the "contract bar" and is intended to promote stable labor relations. If elections could be held during the life of a contract, then workplaces would be subject to constant disruption about what union, if any, speaks for the workers. Constant elections would force unions to focus on elections, rather than negotiating collective bargaining agreements that provide labor peace.

The Regional Director agreed that the circumstances at Boston Medical Center did not qualify for an exception to the contract bar. When an employer merges two or more operations to create a new operation with major changes, the NLRB will sometimes allow an election to occur, even if there is a valid collective bargaining agreement. Boston Medical Center is planning to consolidate operations -- but not until 2017. The Regional Director ruled it premature to apply the merger exception to the contract bar.