Union Organizing 101

How Union Organizing Works

A union may target a particular hospital if employees reach out with questions about unionization. A union may also target a particular hospital because it fits into the union’s organizing goals based on its location, prominence, or number of potential members.

The union may begin its organizing effort by:

  • Inviting small groups of employees to Zoom or in-person meetings
  • Targeting nurses who attend virtual or in-person professional conferences or health fairs
  • Contacting employees through social media, or even home visits. Often a union will work alongside a supporter who works at the hospital who may be able provide other employees’ contact information.

The union’s goal is to persuade as many employees as possible to authorize the union to represent them. This is done by asking employees to sign a union authorization card.

Authorization Cards

A “card campaign” is one of the first formal steps in the union organizing process. If the union collects signatures from at least 30 percent of registered nurses – whether on a paper card or an online form –  it can file a petition for a representation election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

What union representatives may say to get you to sign a card:

Reality:  If everyone else had signed cards, the union would have enough signatures to petition the NLRB for an election and not need your signature. The decision to sign – or not – is a personal one and should be based strictly on your own view of the union, not on what the union says other nurses may have done.

Reality:  A union may make promises to persuade you to sign a card, but it is not obligated to keep any promise. With unionization, changes to pay or benefits would come only through collective bargaining, which offers no guarantees. Nurses could end up with the same, more, or less in pay and benefits, as acknowledged in this NLRB ruling:

“. . . collective bargaining is potentially hazardous for employees and as a result of such negotiations employees might possibly wind up with less benefits after unionization than before.” Source: Coach and Equipment Sales, 228 NLRB No. 51.

Reality: The union may try to create a sense of community by promising nurses who sign cards access to private Facebook groups or other exclusive communications. Your signature is valuable. Signing an authorization card should not be necessary to get more information; union representatives should be willing to answer any questions without making information conditional upon you signing a card.

Reality:  A union organizer is trying to get you to buy their product or service. Be an educated consumer. By signing an authorization card, you may give the union the number of cards it needs to file a petition for a representation election. Nurses should consider an authorization card a legal document – read it carefully and make sure you understand the implications of signing.

Reality:  You don’t need to sign a union authorization card to vote in an election. Only the NLRB has the authority to determine which nurses would be part of the eligible bargaining unit and therefore able to vote in an election.

Reality: Once a union is elected, there are no term limits or automatic re-elections. Staff who wish to end union representation face a difficult process (“decertification”) with numerous legal barriers. The National Labor Relations Board would not allow represented staff to petition for a decertification vote for a full year after the union is certified and, if a contract is in place, up to nearly another three years.

Sample NNU Authorization Card

sample of a paper NNU authorization card

Sample Electronic Authorization Card

sample of an electronic NNU authorization card

Things to Ask an NNU Organizer

Q:  Can you guarantee that under a union contract I wouldn’t lose any of my current pay or benefits?

Q:  What would happen in the event of a strike if I wanted to continue to work and care for my patients? Could you guarantee I wouldn’t face a fine or other penalty?

Q:  How much do striking NNU nurses get paid from your Strike Fund? Does NNU guarantee strike pay?

Q:  What would happen to me if you put a union security clause in our contract, but I refused to pay dues?

Q:  How do you get paid – hourly or salary? Do you get paid a bonus for every nurse who signs a card?

Questions About Union Organizing

A:  If 30 percent or more of SHH nurses sign authorization cards, the union can petition the NLRB for a secret ballot representation election.

A:  Every nurse has the right to sign or to not sign an authorization card, and to make that decision without threat or coercion.

A: The NNU, like most unions, employs a paid staff of “organizers” who are responsible for soliciting support from nurses at the hospitals and health systems the union targets. Organizers are try to convince nurses to attend union meetings or rallies and sign union authorization cards. Often, union organizers will recruit pro-union employees to convince their co-workers to support the union. These employees may be paid by the union and promised roles as union delegates or stewards if the union campaign is successful.

A: No. You are under no obligation to talk with a union organizer or a colleague who supports the union. The National Labor Relations Act gives you the legal right to support or not support the union, free from intimidation and coercion.

A:  No. The National Labor Relations Act protects the rights of all employees to support, or not to support, union representation. SHH will not discriminate in any way against any nurse based on her or his position on union representation.

A:  Yes, all SHH nurses have the legal right to support or to oppose the union. You also have the right to let other employees know your opinion.

A:  A union, once elected, can be difficult to remove. There are no set terms or regularly scheduled “re-election” requirements that allow represented employees an opportunity to reconsider unionization. Although a process to end representation known as “decertification” exists, legal and practical barriers face employees who wish to decertify:

  • A union cannot be decertified for a full year after it is certified or during the term of a collective bargaining agreement (up to three years)
  • Nurses who want the union out would have to gather enough signatures to file a decertification petition with the NLRB.
  • Nurses would be responsible for initiating and organizing a decertification campaign on their own time and at their own expense.

More information about this process can be found here:  NLRB – About the Decertification Process

A:  It is your individual choice how to respond if you’re approached by NNU staff or any colleague who wants to talk about the union campaign. The Hospital cannot prevent union organizers from contacting you; nor will we interfere with your choice of whether to talk with them when you are on your own time.

A: No.  Non-employee solicitation is prohibited on SMHC property.  Additionally, union organizers may not enter restricted areas open only to SMHC employees.

A: Yes.  Union “home visits” are often a feature of union campaigns.

The hospital has not shared your personal contact information with the union. . A union organizer may search social media for people who identify themselves as SHMC nurses, obtain RN lists from professional groups, or ask union supporters to provide contact information for  other nurses at the hospital.

If you are uncomfortable with anyone coming to your home uninvited, tell them you are not interested and ask them to leave your property. A professional will respect that request. If an NNU organizer does not respect your wishes, you should get their name and contact the NNU office to ask that you be removed from the union’s contact list.

A:  Read it carefully! The NNU typically uses printed authorization cards that resemble a magazine subscription card. Some unions also use online forms and petitions that include language authorizing the union to represent the signer on all issues in regard to pay, benefits, and the terms and conditions of employment.

A: It is your individual right and choice whether or not to support unionization.

You are not obligated to sign a union card simply because someone else asks you to, even if that someone is a friend. SHH encourages every nurse to make an informed decision about whether or not to support the union based on the issues and values most important to you.

A: You should not sign a union card simply to “get more information” or to get the union organizer to leave you alone. Signed authorization cards (or petitions) are legal documents the union uses to demonstrate it has sufficient support to call for an election. By signing a card, you are authorizing the union to have the exclusive right to speak and act on your behalf with regard to wages, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment at SMHC.

You have the right to sign a card, or not to sign a card, but SMHC encourages all nurses to make an informed choice.

A:  You have the right to ask for your card back, although the union is not obligated to return the card. If you choose to revoke your authorization, you could put that request in writing and send a letter via certified mail to the NNU’s office in Bangor, Maine, along with a copy to the National Labor Relations Board regional office.

A: No. If the NLRB ordered an election, nurses would have the legal right to vote for or against unionization, without regard to whether they signed an authorization card.

A:  Any nurse deemed to be part of the bargaining unit by the NLRB would be eligible to vote in an election.

A: A representation election is overseen at all stages by the NLRB, which has established procedural safeguards to ensure a fair and accurate voting procedure An NLRB agent would count the ballots in the presence of representatives from the hospital and the union as well as employees serving as “observers.”

A: An election would be determined by a simple majority of those who cast votes, not the total number of nurses who are eligible to vote. SMHC encourages every nurse to vote and have his or her voice heard.

A:  No. NLRB-supervised elections are conducted by secret ballot. Voters do not sign their ballots. Neither the union nor the hospital will know how any individual nurse voted.

A: Nurses would not be required to formally “join” the union, but every nurse who is part of the bargaining unit represented by MSNA/NNU would likely be required to pay union dues or an equivalent amount in a payment known as an agency fee.

Almost all union contracts in Maine (which is not a Right to Work state) require all represented employees to pay dues or fees to the union as a condition of employment – a provision known as a “union security clause.” Typically, these clauses require an employer to terminate a represented employee who refuses to pay the required dues or fees.

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A:  No. If NNU wins an election, it will represent every nurse eligible to vote, as well as those hired afterward who did not get the opportunity to vote.