Huntington Memorial Hospital and the California Nurses Association have reached a settlement agreement to rescind the termination of two critical care nurses who were fired, allegedly for trying to unionize the hospital’s nursing staff.

The settlement, approved late Tuesday by the National Labor Relations Board, will give nurses Allysha Almada and Vicki Lin full back pay and remove any reference to the terminations from their files. The action additionally sets aside the results of a 2015 union election in which a majority of the hospital’s registered nurses voted against union representation. That paves the way for a new election to be held following a 60-day posting period.

Tuesday’s settlement negates the need for a hearing with an administrative law judge that had been set for Monday at the NLRB’s regional office in Los Angeles. The judge was scheduled to review 42 objections to the 2015 election, including 175 challenged ballots that led to an inconclusive election result, as well as the terminations of Almada and Lin, and other labor law violations that allegedly were committed by Huntington administrators.

The NLRB issued a formal complaint against the hospital in early March for multiple and repeated labor violations. The complaint alleged Huntington blocked off-duty employees and union representatives access to the hospital, interrogated employees about efforts to unionize, barred employees from talking about misconduct and used “surveillance” to monitor employees pushing for unionization.

“The law has protected our right to organize,” Almada said in a statement following Tuesday’s settlement. “I’ve decided to decline returning to work at HMH because for the past six months I’ve been working at Keck USC, a hospital where RNs enjoy a CNA contract.”

Almada said she’s committed to supporting her former colleagues at Huntington in their quest to gain union protection.

As part of Tuesday’s agreement, Huntington has vowed to abide by labor laws that protect the registered nurses’ right to organize, although the hospital still feels the 2015 election results should stand.

“We firmly believe that April 2015’s election rejecting union representation was lawful and proper, and our preference was to have the original election result certified,” the hospital said in a statement. “However, in the interest of reaching a fast, efficient and final resolution to this issue, we reached an agreement with the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) and the National Labor Relations Board to clear the way for a rerun election.”

Huntington Memorial RNs began organizing to affiliate with CNA/NNU in May of 2014, after management rebuffed their attempts to engage them on patient care issues, including chronic short staffing, inadequate supplies and equipment and concerns about hygiene and sterilization practices at the hospital, CNA officials said.

If Huntington fails to comply with the agreement in the next eight months the NLRB can reissue its complaint, opt to skip a trial and enter a default judgment finding the hospital guilty of the labor violations cited in the complaint.

CNA Co-President Malinda Markowitzwas pleased with Tuesday’s settlement.

“This is an enormous breakthrough for all Huntington RNs who have worked hard to seek union representation and stood up valiantly for justice in the face of HMH administration’s illegal and immoral campaign,” Markowitz said in a California Nurses Association and National Nurses United newsletter. “Management is finally accepting reality.”

Original Post: http://www.dailynews.com/business/20160601/after-fight-over-firings-huntington-hospital-settles-with-nurses