Good morning.

Last week, we launched the You Decide blog to provide you with reliable and accurate information related to the petition filed by the nurses’ union, HPAE. We continue to hear questions and confusion around the process for the upcoming election. To clear up any confusion, here is what has happened to date and the process forward:

• The HPAE union’s petition was filed on June 16, 2023.
• Cooper attorneys filed a position statement on June 29, 2023, with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) informing the NLRB of the issues that require litigation.
• The HPAE filed a response to Cooper’s position statement with the NLRB on July 5, 2023.
  
  Next steps:

• The NLRB will hold a hearing to decide the issues contested in the HPAE and Cooper filings, which is scheduled for July 18, 2023. 
• In this hearing, the NLRB will hear from lawyers from both Cooper and the HPAE on the contested issues.  
• A few days after the hearing, Cooper and HPAE will file additional legal briefs.
• Shortly thereafter, the NLRB will decide which Cooper team members will be included in the election as well as the times and dates of the election.
• The election will mostly likely occur in August at convenient times for team members.

We have heard varying accounts that the union may be telling team members, during visits to their homes, that HPAE may:

• Drop the current Petition for election and refile a new petition with a new smaller group of team members to provide the union with a better chance of winning.
• Drop the current Petition for election and re-filing with a much larger group that includes all Tech employees; and/or 
• Negotiate with Cooper, if the union is successful, to create mini contracts for each specialty area. 

Despite what may or may not be communicated during those meetings, HPAE did not include any of the above scenarios in the response filed with the NLRB on Monday, July 5, 2023. Additionally, you should know that if a union is created, there will only be one contract for all Technical team members, not multiple contracts by specialty areas.

We hope this information is helpful to you. This letter along with other reliable and timely information will be available on the You Decide blog. We want you to be well informed when you decide on this issue that will affect your pay and your working conditions.

If you have any questions, send them to YouDecide@cooperhealth.edu.

Thank you,

Beth Green, SVP & Chief HR Officer