NLRB Ruling Says 2 California Nurses Were Illegally Fired During Union Drive

[Omaha Steve]

Allysha Almada speaks at a 2015 rally alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders. (NNU / Flickr)


http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/18856/nursing-their-wounds-and-still-fighting

BY PETER DREIER

Last October, Allysha Almada, a 28-year old nurse at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, California, was invited to the White House Summit on Worker Voice, where she presented President Barack Obama with a stethoscope engraved with the message: "Listen to Nurses."

The White House event occurred two months after the hospital fired Almada and fellow nurse Vicki Lin, who were part of a union organizing drive. Last week, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)—the federal agency that oversees union elections and unfair labor practices—did listen to the nurses. It found that Huntington illegally terminated the two nurses for their union involvement.

If the hospital refuses to reinstate the nurses and compensate them for their lost pay, the NLRB will issue a formal indictment (“complaint”), triggering a federal trial before an Administrative Law Judge. Meanwhile, the California Nurses Association—which helped the nurses in their union drive and represented Almada and Lin before the NLRB—has requested the NLRB to seek a federal court injunction to force Huntington hospital to return Almada and Lin to work as soon as possible.

The NLRB will also turn its attention to the other alleged “unfair labor practice” charges against the Huntington administration for violating nurses’ rights during last year’s contentious union organizing campaign.

FULL story at link.