AaNA Labor Council
Document Adopted by AaNA Labor Council: April 10, 2002
Portions Revised January 8, 2003
Amended September 2004
Amended April 25, 2006
Amended September 26, 2006
Table of Contents
1.0 Foreword/History 3
2.0 Scope & Purpose of Labor Council 9
3.0 Composition and Qualifications for
Labor Council Members 10
4.0 Procedure for Policy Development 12
5.0 Requests for Collective Bargaining Services 13
6.0 Membership Fees 14
7.0 Contract Ratification and Strike Votes 16
8.0 Local Unit Strike Funds 18
Attachment: Strike Fund Request Form 20
9.0 Association Relationships with other
Bargaining Units 21
10.0 Safety and Unsafe Staffing Concerns 23
Attachment: Problem Occurrence Record 23a
11.0 Grievance Processing Services 24
12.0 Arbitration Services 25
Appendix 1: Article XX and XXI AFL-CIO Constitution
1.0 Foreword and History
During the early years of the Alaska Nurses Association (AaNA), the organizational structure included several committees, one of which was the Economic and General Welfare (E&GW) Committee. This committee generally kept an eye on economic trends in the nursing profession. Sometimes it was more active than at other times.
That all changed in 1993. Committee members that fateful year included Karen Theurer, a nurse at the Alaska Psychiatric Institute, and Jackie Pflaum, a nurse educator at the University of Alaska, Anchorage. The E&GW committee was approached by members of the Providence Alaska Medical Center nursing staff. They wanted to unionize and they wanted AaNA to represent them.
“I started working at Providence in 1988. We still felt ‘like family’”, recalls Mary Stackhouse, RN. “We had the feeling that we were all in this together for the sake of the patients we served. We also felt that the hospital cared about us as nurses.”
“We hadn’t gotten a salary raise for several years, but the issue that was the impetus for the organizing effort occurred in about 1992 when the hospital hired a consulting firm. One of the firm’s recommendations was for nurses to break their jobs down into individual ‘tasks’, ‘tasks’ that someone else could be taught to do,” she explains.
The idea was to replace Registered Nurses with as many Patient Care Technicians as possible and to increase the patient/nurse ratio. The sought after goal for the hospital Administration was not the quality of patient care as it had seemed to be in the past, but rather the financial “bottom line.” How could they utilize fewer nurses and spend less money on staffing.
“They tried to tell us that our licenses wouldn’t be in jeopardy under the new staffing plan,” Mary recalls, “But we knew that patient care would suffer.”
A second issue emerged about this same time. The Providence Administration went to the State Board of Nursing to promote a new concept of “Clinical Support Associates” – recent college graduates who were fully trained and licensed Registered Nurses. These new grads would be hired as “something less than a nurse” at a much lower pay scale
The State Board of Nursing saw through the scheme and stated that even if these nurses were working as “aides” they will still be held to the standards of being a nurse.
“These were the kind of proposed changes that were scaring us into unionizing,” Mary recalls.
“I wasn’t the first one out there. I was going to sit on the sidelines and just help out occasionally. People initially involved included Steve Medley, Ronnie Ziegler, Rosie Debnan, and others.
As time went on, I got caught up in the movement more and more.
We were learning about our rights under the National Labor Relations Act. We learned more about organizing and getting cards signed. Once we learned what power we had, it was easier and easier.
In 1992 or 1993, we began looking for a national union with which to affiliate. We chose to affiliate with American Nurses Association because we believed that only other nurses could understand our concerns about licensure and patient care. Other unions could deal with wages and benefits, but ANA understood our professional issues.
About that time, the hospital announced that a market analysis had found that Providence nurses were significantly underpaid. The hospital granted a six percent across the board raise in salaries for all employees with an additional nine percent for the nurses.
The Providence nurses met with the AaNA Economic and General Welfare Committee. They were interested in supporting the effort.
Claire Denny was the AaNA executive director at the time. It was she who first started putting the names of the Providence nurses into the computer program, recalls AaNA Administrative Assistant Ann Cannon. Denny left in July of 1993. AaNA presidents during the organizing effort included Wanda Ferris, Gail McGuill, and Theresa Lyons.
AaNA treasurer Gail Stewart, RN, was another early force.
The AaNA’s E&GW committee, under the direction of the organization’s new executive director Patricia Senner, began applying for grants through the American Nurses Association. The committee was now able to hire Mary Stackhouse as an internal organizer.
Wanda Katinzsky was hired a short time later as both interim executive director and labor program director.
The official election petition was filed with the National Labor Relations Agency on May 4, 1994. A hearing was held before the NLRB on May 24 and 25, 1994 and an election was conducted August 11-12, 1994.
The hospital challenged the election.
During the resulting NLRB hearing, each time one of the nurses testified, the administration arranged to have the nurse’s manager in the room. The nurses found this intimidating but did not allow it to effect the quality of their testimony.
The issue was whether or not nurses were “supervisors.” If they were found to be supervisors, they could not legally organize. The association won at every level, but the administration kept appealing.
Legal Counsel Matt Halliday of the Washington State Nurses Association had represented the Providence RNs.
While the election challenges wound their way through the courts, the hospital administration and fledgling union went to the table to re-write Providence’s Human Resources policies. The RN team included Ronnie Ziegler, Doyle Stewart, Peggy Ormsby-Tipton, Debbie Thompson, Rosie Debnan, and Mary Stackhouse. Karen McGrath, labor program for the Washington State Nurses Association, served as spokesperson. The policy talks were completed by about mid-1995.
The election ballots were finally counted on February 23, 1996. The Providence nurses won two to one. Now they were an official bargaining unit of the Alaska Nurses Association, AaNA’s first such unit.
Stackhouse was elected to represent the new unit at the American Nurses Association Institute for Constituent Members’ Collective Bargaining Programs. She was elected president of the new Providence Registered Nurses (PRN) Bargaining Unit in October of 1997 for a three-year term.
The hospital challenged the NLRB’s ruling in 1996, but the handwriting was on the wall. On July 16, 1997, a three-judge panel for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the NLRB’s early ruling on behalf of AaNA and PRN. The hospital did not appeal.
PRN held its first official election of officers in the fall of 1997. Elected were Mary Stackhouse, president; Doyle Stewart, vice president; Donna Phillips, treasurer; Connie Federmann, secretary; and Debbie Thompson and Peggy Ormsby-Tipton, grievance vice presidents.
Real bargaining commenced in January 1998.
The nurse team was expanded to include not only Stackhouse, Stewart, Ziegler, Ormsby-Tipton, and Thompson, but also Carol Clausson, Mary Luken, Donna Phillips, Ginny Wiseman, B. Bolin, Kelley Foreman, Arminda Doggett, and AaNA’s Wanda Katinzsky.
AaNA had hired Lynn Wallace as executive director in the fall of 1998 so that Katinzsky could concentrate on the labor program responsibilities.
Halliday served as spokesperson for the initial bargaining session. Karen McGrath took over from there and served for two or three sessions. PRN desperately required a long-term negotiator.
James A. Gasper, senior associate of Alaska’s premiere labor relations legal firm of Jermain, Dunnagan, and Owens joined the effort in February of 1998.
The teams worked through the spring, summer, and fall of 1998 – with no contract in sight.
The American Nurses Association sent organizer Sue Putnam to help with the effort that winter. An informational picket was set up January 30, 1999 on the corner of A Street and Benson Boulevard – the temperature being something like 50 degrees below zero. Another informational picket was set up downtown in front of the Performing Arts Center. The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service were called in. No contract agreement was reached.
In February, an initial strike vote was taken at the Wilda Marston Auditorium, Loussac Library. The team was amazed at the level of support expressed. They took a deep breath and gave the hospital the legally required notification of a possible strike. A second strike vote was conducted at the Carpenters’ Hall on April 14. Nurses were specifically told to only vote yes if they were able and willing to strike for at least 30 days. The support remained steady.
The nurses struck April 15, 1999.
Approximately 650 of the hospitals 725 RNs refused to cross the picket line. Others assisted from the inside. The labor community, community-at-large, and a good percentage of the medical staff supported the nurses’ effort.
The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service were again called to Anchorage. Intense negotiations finally commenced.
A tentative agreement was reached Saturday, May 8, 1999; the contract was ratified by the nurses, Monday, May 10; and nurses returned to work Friday, May 14, 1999.
PostScript
Providence:
A tentative agreement on Providence’s second contract was reached May 15, 2002. Finally signed July 12, 2002. Effective May 1, 2002 through April 30, 2005. One year extension to this contract, with salary and other improvements, ratified January 20, 2003. Effective through April 30, 2006.
Soldotna:
Nurses working at Central Peninsula General Hospital, Soldotna, Alaska, approached the AaNA for representation in late 1996. A petition on their behalf was filed with the National Labor Relations Agency on February 11, 1997. An election was held April 14, 1997 and AaNA won.
Soldotna’s first contract was signed on May 13, 1999.
Soldotna ratified its second contract in December 2002. Effective Nov. 1, 2002 – Oct. 31, 2005.
Ketchikan:
Nurses working at Ketchikan General Hospital, Ketchikan, Alaska approached the AaNA about representation in late 2000. A petition on their behalf was filed March 22, 2001. An election was held May 2, 2001 and AaNA won.
Negotiations commenced. Ketchikan’s first contract effective March 24, 2002 – March 31, 2004.
Staff Changes:
Wanda Katinzsky resigned as AaNA Labor Program Director at the close of the strike. She later ran for and was elected president of the AaNA.
Dianne O’Connell was hired as AaNA Labor Program Director, effective June 1, 1999.
Valerie Baffone hired on contract as Labor Specialist, March 2003.
Wanda Ferris, former AaNA president, served as interim executive director from July through September 1999.
Helen McGraw served as AaNA executive director from October 1999 through February 2001.
Wanda Katinzsky served as AaNA interim executive director from February through September 2001. Patricia Senner filled in for a few weeks as interim.
Camille Soleil was hired as AaNA executive director in October 2001.
Patricia Senner was elected AaNA president in October 2001.
Rebecca Bolling of Ketchikan was elected AaNA president in October 2003.
Policies and Procedures:
Work on the following E&GW Policies and Procedures was first begun in April of 1996. Providence nurses Mary Luken, Debbie Thompson and Mary Stackhouse were part of the committee. Many of the following policies were drafted and adopted individually at various meetings since that time.
The name of the E&GW committee was officially changed to the AaNA Labor Council at the AaNA House of Delegates in the fall of 2000.
The current (February 2002) AaNA Labor Council is comprised of:
Donna Phillips, PRN, chair;
Patricia Madison-Ball, Palmer, co-chair;
Jackie Pflaum, UAA, treasurer;
Kathleen Gettys, PRN, secretary;
Carol Clausson, PRN;
Maggie Flanagan, PRN;
Juanita McDermott; PRN;
Susan Shoemaker, Soldotna;
Geri Kelly, Ketchikan; and
Kelley Foreman, United American Nurses, ANA, representative.
As the preceding history attests, much has happened since the policies were first begun. Patricia Madison-Ball has since served two terms as chair of the committee. The completion of the policies has been one of her major goals. This document represents the first complete set of policies and procedures adopted as a total document.
The AaNA Labor Council history will be updated each year with the attachment of our Annual Report to the AaNA General Assembly.
We need to attach the Annual Reports as noted above
2.0 Scope & Purpose of Labor Council
To build a strong collective bargaining program that represents registered nurses in Alaska
Vision Statement:
Empower Alaska nurses to be dynamic leaders; powerful in both the health care and political communities.
Goals:
The Labor Council is responsible for developing and directing the AaNA Labor Program as established by the AaNA bylaws: Article VIII, Section 3.
Practice:
Labor Council Policies & Procedures will be reviewed by AaNA Program Director or Executive Director, for compliance with bylaws of the ANA, AaNA, and UAN. The Labor Council will work co-operatively with AaNA to ensure insulation of the Labor Program.
Membership of Council:
The Council membership will be voted on by all bargaining unit eligible members of the AaNA.
Meeting Attendance:
The elected members of the Council are expected to attend or phone in to monthly meetings. Members are expected to have no more than two unexcused absences per year.
AaNA Board Meetings:
The Labor Council chair is a full voting member of the AaNA Board of Directors.
Training:
New Labor Council members will attend training the first meeting after election or appointment.
Adopted: 8 APR 1998
Revised: 10 APR 2002
Reviewed: 9 MAR 2004
Revised: 26 SEP 2006
3.0 Composition and Qualifications for Labor Council Membership
Representation:
Elections:
The returned, marked ballot shall be postmarked no later than 10 days prior to the AaNA General Assembly. This date shall be publicized in the materials mailed August 1st.
Adopted: 11 APR 1996
Revised: 10 APR 2002
Revised: 11 MAY 2004
Revised: 26 SEP 2006
4.0 Procedure for Policy Development
The Labor Council Procedure for Policy Development:
Adopted: 2 FEB 1999
Reviewed: 10 APR 2002
Reviewed: 9 MAR 2004
5.0 Requests for Collective Bargaining Services
Policy:
The Alaska Nurses Association (AaNA) will offer collective bargaining services for the benefit of Registered Nurses in Alaska and the AaNA.
Procedure:
Requests for Collective Bargaining Services:
The initial request to the Executive Director (ED) or Labor Relations Program Director (PD) must come from an AaNA member working in the facility in a non-management role.
The AaNA ED or PD will review all requests for collective bargaining and present them to the Labor Council.
In determining whether or not to undertake an organizing effort, the committee will consider the following:
Signed Petition:
In order for AaNA to petition NLRB, there needs to be signed cards from at least 50% of the eligible nurses. Fifty percent (50%) of the eligible nurses must be members at the time of filing. The Labor Council shall reserve the right to waive the above requirements.
Adopted: 11 APR 1996
Amended: 20 APR 1999
Reviewed: 10 APR 2002
Revised: 9 MAR 2004
Revised: 26 SEP 2006
6.0 Membership Fees
Policy
Procedure
Full Membership:
Full membership dues (including dues for the American Nurses Association, United American Nurses, Alaska Nurses Association, and local bargaining unit) are reviewed annually by the Labor Council. Changes in the amount of this assessment recommended by the Labor Council must be approved by a vote of the members of the affected Collective Bargaining Unit(s). Changes in dollar amount or dues structure shall be reported to the Alaska Nurses Association General Assembly.
A nurse who is employed by two or more hospitals represented by AaNA shall pay professional dues only once and will be considered a full voting member in each represented bargaining units.
Bargaining Unit Representation Fee:
The Bargaining Unit Representation Fee is also reviewed annually by the Labor Council with any proposed change in dollar amount or representation fee calculation reported to the Alaska Nurses Association General Assembly.
The representation fee shall be calculated based on the most recent available Beck Audit.
Notice of any change in the Beck Audit percentage shall be forwarded to the payroll office of each bargaining unit and communicated to the RNs covered by AaNA negotiated agreements.
Implementation of any change shall be made with the first paycheck following the New Year or with the implementation of a new contract or new contract language pertaining to membership.
Refunds:
If a nurse moves from bargaining unit status to non-bargaining unit status, that nurse has the responsibility to notify the Bargaining Unit to request that their bargaining unit representation fee deduction be discontinued. In such cases, the AaNA membership specialist shall verify the date the nurse became bargaining unit ineligible.
In no case will AaNA refund more than six months bargaining unit representation fees.
Adopted: 11 APR 1996
Reviewed: 10 APR 2002
Revised: 8 JAN 2003
Revised: 11 MAY 2004
Revised: 25 APR 2006
Revised: 26 SEP 2006
7.0 CONTRACT RATIFICATION AND Strike VOTES
Policy
AaNA supports the legal right of the professional nurse to enter into collective bargaining, reject or ratify any resulting contract proposal, and/or to strike in conformity with applicable State and/or Federal Law.
In the event that a proposed tentative agreement is reached at the negotiations table, a Local Bargaining Unit contract vote shall be conducted in accordance with the approved Unit Rules for that Bargaining Unit.
The Local Bargaining Unit Rules may include a provision for advisory votes by service fee-paying nurses covered by the collective bargaining agreement.
The AaNA Labor Council shall be consulted prior to any strike vote conducted by a Local Bargaining Unit. A vote of all unit-eligible Registered Nurses shall be conducted before a strike notice is issued by the Local Bargaining Unit Negotiating Team spokesperson, in conjunction with the AaNA labor program staff.
The Labor Relations Program Director (PD), in consultation with the AaNA Labor Council, must give final approval to any strike action and shall be responsible for informing the bargaining unit of any approval, disapproval, or modification of such action. Such decisions shall be based upon the following criteria:
A strike shall be terminated according to the terms of the individual Bargaining Unit Rules.
After fulfilling AaNA’s contractual obligations regarding the legality of any strike, work stoppage, or lockout and complying with applicable Federal, State and Local laws, AaNA assumes no liability to any person or persons simply by reason of approval, disapproval, modification or implementation of strike action, work stoppage or lockout.
Adopted: 2 FEB 1999
Revised: 10 APR 2002
Revised: MAR 2004
8.0 Local Unit Strike Funds (LUSF)
The Local Unit Strike Fund will be established to assist an AaNA unit in time of financial need.
Areas that will be considered for financial assistance include (in order of priority):
Requests may not be funded at the full amount requested. Funding will be based on needs and balance in the account.
A check and letter will be mailed to the applicant within one week of the initial request.
Applicants will be expected to support activities of the picket line or other related unit activities.
Adopted: 11 APR 1996
Reviewed: 10 APR 2002
Revised: 14 SEP 2004
Revised: 26 SEP 2006
ALASKA NURSES ASSOCIATION
LOCAL UNIT STRIKE FUND REQUEST FORM
To: AaNA Labor Council
Re: Local Unit Strike Fund Request
Name: _________________________________________________________________
Address: _______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Phone #: _______________________________________________________________
Facility: _________________________________________________________________
Position: _______________________________________________________________
AaNA Member Since: _____________________________
Actions that you have initiated in securing additional income/support
Type of benefit requested:
Signature of Applicant_____________________________
Date of Application________________________________
_____ Approved
_____ Disapproved
Adopted: 10 DEC 1998
Reviewed: 10 APR 2002
Revised: 14 SEP 2004
The Labor Council will work in a supportive and collective manner with other employee organizations or bargaining groups to further mutually beneficial conditions of employment consistent with law and the recognition of the Association’s responsibility to its members.
We support the right of workers to engage in collective bargaining.
The Labor council will urge nurses in the event of a dispute between their employers and other employee groups to:
The Labor Council may assist other groups (union and/or professional) in the collective bargaining process if necessary and when it relates to the welfare and safety of the patients and/or public and to the benefit of the members.
Discipline:
The Alaska Nurses Association recognizes and accepts the legal rights of members, as protected by the Constitution and federal and state statutes, to exercise their freedoms of speech and assembly; and to form, join, and assist a labor organization. The exercise of these rights, in and of themselves, does not constitute grounds for disciplinary action by AaNA and/or its constituent associations.
Any member of AaNA who participates in or gives assistance to one or more directly competing labor organizations is subject to discipline for advocating or engaging in any activities which could eliminate or interfere with a state nurses association which is the collective bargaining representative or is attempting to become the collective bargaining representative for employees.
Any moneys that are held in the bargaining unit treasury belong to the Alaska Nurses Association.
Organizing Protocol:
The Alaska Nurses Association, as a member in good standing of the AFL-CIO, will adhere to and abide by the AFL-CIO Constitution, Article XX, Settlement of Internal Disputes, and Article XXI, Organizing Responsibility Procedures.
Adopted: 11 APR 1996
Reviewed: 10 APR 2002
Reviewed: 9 MAR 2004
10.0 Safety and Unsafe Staffing Concerns
(assignment despite Objection)
Policy
The Labor Council will encourage the Registered Nurse to report safety concerns and unsafe staffing levels. Nurses who raise staffing issues should be free from restraint, interference, discrimination, or reprisal.
A Registered Nurse with safety concerns, and/or concerns with the level of staffing on his or her assigned unit is encouraged to communicate this in the following manner.
Revised: 26 SEP 2006
11.0 Grievance Processing Services
The AaNA Labor Council provides advice and assistance to AaNA bargaining units and individuals represented by the bargaining units through the services of the AaNA Labor Program.
The AaNA is the exclusive bargaining representative on behalf of those represented by AaNA bargaining units.
Nothing in these policies shall be construed to mean that the local bargaining unit does more than advise and assist the AaNA in its dealings with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment and/or other conditions of work.
All requests for outside legal advice regarding interpretation of AaNA contracts or the viability of grievances shall go through and be approved by the AaNA Labor Program Director.
The AaNA Labor Council recommends the formation of grievance review committees at the bargaining unit level.
The Grievance Review Committee may be comprised of the local unit’s grievance officers, grievance vice president(s) or others, as the bargaining unit shall determine. However, in all cases, the AaNA Labor Program Director shall be a member of this committee. This committee shall meet as needed.
Purpose of the Grievance Review Committee is to review grievances, offer suggestions and observations as to strategy and overall impact of the grievance, and to facilitate communication among bargaining unit leadership.
Adopted: 11 APR 1996
Reviewed: 10 APR 2002
Revised: 14 SEP 2004
12.0 Arbitration Services
The AaNA Labor Program director (PD) shall bring the grievance, along with his/her recommendation for funding, to the AaNA Labor Council prior to the grievance being advanced to arbitration.
The Council shall review the grievance and recommendation based on pre-determined criteria for funding Arbitrations (see below). In the event of tie vote of the Labor Council, the AaNA PD shall proceed to Step 4 of the Grievance procedure.
In the event of a positive determination, the AaNA Labor Program Director shall proceed to Step 4 of the Grievance procedure.
The AaNA Labor PD shall be the bargaining unit representative in charge of communication with the Administration concerning selection of arbitrators. Decisions regarding selection of arbitrators shall be at the discretion of the Labor PD, after consultation with informational sources such as labor attorneys, other Bargaining Unit officials both inside and outside the State of Alaska, and other persons familiar with arbitrators on the FMCS list.
The AaNA Labor PD shall represent the grievant at any level 4 Arbitration hearing, unless, in special circumstances, the PD recommends the retention of an attorney. The AaNA Labor Council shall approve or disapprove funding for such recommendations.
In the event the AaNA Labor Council votes against funding arbitration, the grievant has access to a reconsideration process.
The Bargaining Unit is committed to its Duty of Fair representation. In evaluating grievances for possible Arbitration, the Bargaining Unit will not discriminate against any employee covered by the Bargaining Unit Agreement because of race, color, religion, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, political affiliation, veteran’s status or handicap (provided reasonable accommodation can be made), nor membership or non–membership in the Bargaining Unit.
Criteria Includes, but are not limited to the following:
Upon receipts of the Labor council’s notice that it will not proceed with a grievance to Arbitration, the grievant may file a written request to the Labor Council for reconsideration. The grievant’s request for reconsideration must be received by the council’s chairperson (or designee), or postmarked within ten (10) calendar days of the grievant’s receipt of the Council’s notice. The Council will schedule a time to hear the appeal within 30 days of the request for reconsideration. The Council’s decision shall be sent in writing to the employee with a copy to the AaNA Labor Program Director within ten (10) days following the Council’s decision.
Decision is Final and Binding:
The Council’s decision shall be final and binding on the Bargaining Unit and the grievant. However, the Council may reconsider its decision if, and only if, new evidence becomes known after the decision has been issued that may have caused the Council to decide the case differently. The final decision may not be appealed to the AaNA board of Directors or any other AaNA committee or officer.
Adopted: 11 APR 1996
Reviewed: 10 APR 2002
Revised: 14 SEP 2004
Revised: 26 SEP 2006