LABOR PAINS FELT AT HOSPITAL UNIONIZATION STYMIED, NURSES COMPLAIN.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - The state Public Employment Relations Board has issued a complaint against Antelope Valley Hospital, charging it with interfering with registered nurses' attempts to unionize.

The complaint alleged hospital officials told employees that pay raises would be frozen and flexible scheduling lost if they are represented by the California Nurses Association, removed CNA literature from employee mailboxes, and forbid employees from wearing union pins at work.

``We received an unfair-practice charge from the California Nurses Association, and based on our investigation of that charge, there was a prima facie case stated by at least some of the allegations in their charge,'' said Robert Thompson, PERB's general counsel. ``There's a number of allegations that have to do with interference with the Nurses Association and employees' ability to organize.''

PERB issued the complaint Friday in response to an unfair-labor-practice complaint filed by the Nurses Association against the hospital. The state board has not acted on the CNA's request for an injunction to stop the hospital from actions the union claims are breaking state labor law.

The hospital also filed an unfair labor practice charge against the CNA, but PERB officials have not decided what action to take on that, Thompson said.

Hospital officials said the PERB complaint was routine and not a cause of concern.

``It's not an uncommon occurrence. Just because they issue a complaint doesn't mean there is merit to the charges,'' said Mary Palmer, a hospital attorney.

Palmer also noted that the PERB complaint does not contain some of the allegations that were contained in the CNA unfair-practice charge. Palmer said they were withdrawn by the nurses union.

The CNA petitioned the hospital last month to be recognized as the nurses union representative because it collected union authorization cards from a majority of the hospital's 575 registered nurses. A new state law eliminated the requirement for an election, replacing it with the collection of union authorization cards.

Antelope Valley Hospital officials have said hospital policy allows unionization only through a majority vote in a secret ballot election in which 80 percent of the employees in an appropriate representation unit cast a valid ballot.

Julia Mallyon, a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit, where there is strong support for a union, cited another hospital district in San Diego County that recently granted union recognition to its nurses based on the union authorization card process.

``I think now the hospital is going to have to be accountable to PERB. (Palomar Pomerado Health District) just recognized the cards. They followed the law. Antelope Valley Hospital is going to have to do that,'' Mallyon said. ``I hope the hospital stops wasting time and money and recognizes the law and the union.''

An informal settlement conference has been scheduled for Wednesday at the PERB office in Los Angeles. If no settlement is reached, both sides will be asked for dates on when to hold a formal administrative hearing, Thompson said.

A hearing officer would conduct a hearing at which the CNA would present its case by way of testimony and documents, and the hospital would respond by cross-examination and putting on its own witnesses.

The officer would then issue a decision, which could be appealed to the state employment board, Thompson said.

The PERB complaint said the hospital's election policy is ``contrary'' to the new state law and is an unfair practice, records show.

On three days in April and May, the mental health director and a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) manager removed union literature from bulletin boards and employee mailboxes, the PERB complaint said.

Twice in April and May, a mental health therapist and a NICU nurse were told by supervisors that they could not wear a union pin while on duty, the complaint said.

On May 1, a mental health department supervisor told a mental health therapist that she had been advised that ``if the union comes in, the raises will be frozen'' and staffers would no longer be able to participate in flex-time, the complaint said.