Massillon, OH (February 12, 2013) – Two local nurses have filed a motion with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) seeking to intervene in a federal case in which the agency is attempting to force a union hierarchy’s «representation» on the nurses in the wake of a tainted organizing election.

With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Affinity Medical Center nurses Susan Kelley and Cinda Keener filed the motion last week.

National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC) union organizers and Affinity management entered into a «neutrality agreement» that gave union organizers preferential access to the facility, helping them to impose monopoly bargaining on the nurses. Company and union officials refused to disclose the terms of the secret agreement despite repeated requests from the nurses.

Additionally, non-employee union organizers stalked, reported on, and attempted to get company management to retaliate against nurses who exercised their rights to oppose the unionization of their workplace. Company officials, at the behest of NNOC union bosses, even made one of the nurses who opposed unionization document the activities of fellow nurses who campaigned against unionization.

The two nurses point out that the secret deal between Affinity and NNOC union officials, combined with the intimidation of nurses who spoke out against unionization, likely affected the outcome of the union organizing vote. The election was «officially» decided by 4 votes with an additional 7 votes contested.

After Affinity refused to accept the results of this tainted election, the union filed an unfair labor practice charge against Affinity demanding company management recognize union officials as the nurses’ monopoly bargaining agent. The NLRB’s General Counsel filed a complaint against Affinity seeking to grant NNOC union officials monopoly bargaining privileges over the nurses.

«Caught between union bosses and corporate executives, these nurses have been stripped of their rights to oppose forced unionism in their workplace,» said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. «Medical professionals shouldn’t be subjected to backroom deals that give union operatives preferential treatment at the expense of employees’ workplace rights.»

«The NLRB lawyer’s attempts to foist the union on these nurses highlights the sham the Board has made out of federal labor law, which is supposed to protect workers,» added Mix. «If anything, the NLRB should remove the illegitimate union from the nurses’ workplace.»

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in more than 250 cases nationwide per year.