DETROIT (Legal Newsline) - The National Labor Relations Board Region 7 announced April 2 that an attempt to have a class of employees exempted from a union election is denied.
The Service Employees International Union wants to unionize nurses at an assisted living facility, including the nurses the employer considers managers.
The appeal to the NLRB was made by Trinity Senior Living Facility after the SEIU wanted to represent all full-time and regular part-time registered nurse unit managers and licensed practical nurse unit managers at its Warren, Mich., facility.
The company said the RNs and LPNs are designated as unit managers and are supervisors within the meaning of Section 2(11) of the National Labor Relations Act. The company cited their authority to assign, direct, and discipline certified nursing assistants using independent judgment or to effectively recommend such actions as reasons they are managerial personnel.
But the NLRB concluded that the Trinity did not prove the nurses in question are management. They found that they are not statutory supervisors and are eligible to vote in the union election.
The NLRB said the LPN's and RN's do not implement the policies and procedures of the employer that requires the use of independent judgment to make assignments, direct actions or discipline employees. These are required for a finding of supervisory status. Their role in the evaluation procedure does not affect the job status or tenure of other employees."
The NLRB said "The following employees of the Employer may constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act. All full-time and regular part-time registered nurses and licensed practical nurses employed by the Employer at its facility located at 12250 East 12 Mile Road, Warren, Michigan; but excluding all clinical care coordinators, MDS nurses, office-clerical employees, managers, and guards and supervisors as defined in the Act."