RNs at University Medical Center demand management drop their delay tactics and allow the vote to proceed

Registered nurses at University Medical Center (UMC) in New Orleans, La., were joined by community supporters as they delivered a petition signed by an overwhelming majority of UMC nurses to demand that LCMC Health management agree to a union election that nurses are seeking, announced National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU) today.

“UMC nurses have formed a union and are ready to vote on joining NNOC,” said Margaret Tully, RN in the emergency room at UMC. “For years, management hasn’t been serious about fixing the issues we’ve raised, and so we believe a union is the best way to make sure our voice is heard. We’ve had enough, and our patients can’t wait.”

 “Unionizing is about having a voice in our hospital,” said Tatiana Mukhtar, RN at UMC. “Management has made it clear that they’d rather keep us quiet by trying to hold up our right to have a democratic vote for our union. For us, management’s attempt to silence our voice has only validated that we’re on the right path. We will not give up the fight for a better future for our hospital, our communities, and all the people of New Orleans who come to us for care.”

“The next step forward should be management agreeing to an election,” said Cathy Kennedy, RN and NNOC president. “Nurses have the right to organize their workplaces and management standing in the way of that is union-busting. We are calling on LCMC to immediately stop their delay tactics and their anti-union campaign against their nurses and allow for a free and fair election to happen. That LCMC is paying professional union busters hundreds of dollars an hour each and every day to divide the nurses at UMC is despicable. That money can and should be going towards the improvements to patient care that nurses are calling for.”

UMC nurses are seeking NNOC/NNU representation for a bargaining unit of 750 RNs at the hospital. They filed their representation election petition with the NLRB on Oct. 12.

National Nurses Organizing Committee is an affiliate of National Nurses United, the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with nearly 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates also include California Nurses Association, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.