As we shared with you last week, we were supposed to have the NLRB hearing today. Late yesterday, we were informed by the NLRB that the hearing was no longer necessary. Based on information the NLRB received from the nurse’s union, HPAE, and Cooper, all the titles included in the original Petition for Election (consisting of technical team members) working at Cooper 1, 2, and 3 will be included in the election.
If you are receiving this email, you are included in the proposed bargaining unit and will be involved in the election. We still do not have a date for the election. As soon as we do, we will send it to you.
As you know, elections have consequences. That’s why we want you to educate yourself to make an informed decision. And this election could have significant costs to you. To consider those costs, click here to read our new blog post You Decide: The Cost.
This is just a reminder that next Tuesday there will be a hearing with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on the HPAE’s petition to organize a union and Cooper’s response. The NLRB will determine which Cooper team members will be part of the election as well as the dates and times for the election. We don’t expect to have a final decision for at least a week after the hearing.
We have also been hearing some misinformation about who is seeking to include specific Cooper team members in the election to unionize. To be clear, the nurses’ union, HPAE, has identified the team members they wish to represent in its petition. HPAE asked to include all full-time, regular part-time, and per diem team members in the following titles:
“Diagnostic Radiology Techs, Angiography/ Interventional Radiology Techs, Cat Scan Techs, Ultrasound Techs, Magnetic Resonance Imaging Techs, Nuclear Medicine Techs, Radiation Therapy Techs, Radiation Oncology Techs, Neuro-Interventional Radiology Techs, Pulmonary Function Lab Techs, Respiratory Therapy Techs, Perinatal Ultra sonographer, Mammography Techs, and OR Techs.”
The nurses’ union, HPAE, wants to represent the above titles – all together under one contract. This is a one-size-fits-all approach. Despite having different needs and different issues, HPAE wants to put this group of team members all together.
You may want to consider if this one-size-fits-all approach is good for you and your colleagues. Read more about what this could mean for you, click here to read You Decide: one-size-fits-all.
We’ll provide you an update after the hearing next week. Stay up-to-date on the latest information by visiting You Decide.
What if the manufacturer of your favorite car decided only to sell cars in the color blue?
Or what if your favorite restaurant decided to serve only meatloaf?
Or what if your doctor told you from now on every patient must take the same drug no matter their diagnosis?
You probably wouldn’t be happy with the one-size-fits-all approaches above. Yet, the union business model is exactly that – one-size-fits-all.
The nurses’ union, HPAE, will represent all the Technical team members that vote in the union – even those who vote against representation by the nurses’ union. There will only be one contract for all those Technical team members in the union. Though team members in the union might be from different units with different issues and different needs, the contract will be one-size fits-all.
In fact, issues related to your specific unit could become a bargaining chip in contract negotiations. Your unit’s important issue might be bargained away for another issue that might benefit the nurses’ union itself.
Once the union contract is approved, it binds Cooper and the union. Technical team members will no longer be able to work directly with Cooper leaders to address their specific needs outside of what is in the contract. It’s a rigid approach.
As an example, you may have worked out with your manager clocking out right at 7 a.m. to take your kids to school. If the contract stipulates a later clock out time, you may lose the flexibility to work with your manager on this accommodation.
That’s why we believe flexibility and direct communication between Cooper leaders and team members is always better – especially when it comes to things as important as your day-to-day working conditions and pay.
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.
At Cooper, we take pride in working collaboratively to fulfill our mission to serve, to heal, and to educate. As a leading academic health system, the Cooper team has repeatedly pulled together to take on big challenges and provide the highest level of care to our patients.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cooper team faced its largest challenge to date and rose to the occasion. All team members worked together to respond to daily challenges to ensure we continued to provide compassionate care to patients, comfort patients’ loved ones, and look after each other. Daily our One Team. One Purpose. slogan was demonstrated in big and small ways.
We met some of the biggest challenges we faced head on – together. We communicated directly. Worked collaboratively and relied upon each other.
There are always issues that we need to address. There will always be things we need to improve upon. The best way to move forward as a unified team, we believe, is to work directly with each other – you and your team members together with your leaders.
When Cooper managers are not permitted to communicate with you directly and must work through an outside group, collaboration can sometimes become more difficult – even to quickly resolve minor workplace issues. Sometimes discussions even become adversarial and an “us versus them” culture develops.
We believe direct communication and collaboration is a better approach.
You decide whether installing and outside group to speak on your behalf will foster our culture of One Team. One Purpose.
I wanted to follow up on my previous email regarding the nurses’ union’s (HPAE) filing of a Petition for Election to represent some of our technical team members at Cooper. Yesterday, Cooper’s attorneys filed a position statement with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), as required, informing the NLRB that we will challenge several issues in the Petition.
The next step in this process is a hearing on the Petition challenges with the NLRB on July 10, 2023. This hearing will determine which team members will be eligible to vote and the date and time of the election. The NLRB will make its determination on these issues after the hearing. It is likely that the election, which will be by secret ballot, will be scheduled in late July or early August at times convenient for our team members to vote.
We will notify you well in advance of the election to allow for as many team members as possible to vote. The outcome of any election, as you know, is determined those who actually show up and vote.
If you have any questions about the upcoming secret ballot election, you should ask your supervisors or HR Business Partners.
Thank you for continuing to educate yourself about this process.
You are receiving this update as a valued member of the Cooper team. A Petition has been filed with the National Labor Relations Board (the NLRB) for a secret ballot election to unionize employees classified as technical employees.
We recognize every team member’s legal right to decide for themselves whether they
want union representation. However, we believe that after learning the facts about union
representation, Cooper technical team members will conclude that union representation is not in their best interest.
It is Cooper’s strong belief that a flexible work environment that allows for direct communication and cooperation is the best way to ensure Cooper remains a great place for team members and patients. When groups unionize, team members must work through the union – not directly with their leaders — to address issues that arise.
We value our ability to directly work with our non-union team members in a collaborative manner without conflict that often comes with union representation. We hope Cooper technical team members vote no in the upcoming election in order to maintain Cooper as a collaborative, great place to work.
Over the next few weeks, we will have informational meetings to inform team members on what unions bring to the workers they represent and the costs of that representation. Some of you signed a union card before you became aware of the facts about how union representation may alter your work and relationship with Cooper. You may now be concerned that you cannot now vote against the union. The truth is that signing a union card does not affect how you vote. You have the right to VOTE “NO” in the secret ballot election even if you signed a card.
We encourage you to make an informed decision by getting information from us, your friends, your own research, and the union. We are confident that once you get all the facts, you will vote no in the upcoming election.
No matter what happens in the election, we want you to know you will remain a valued member of the Cooper team providing the highest level of advanced care to those we serve. Thank you for all you do.
