St. Charles Health System leaders received notification today that a group of St. Charles Bend caregivers has filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to decertify the Service Employees International Union Local 49 as its collective bargaining representative.
Over the next few days, the NLRB will go through a process to validate the signatures on the petition and to ensure that proper requirements for a decertification election have been reached. St. Charles will need to submit a complete list of the caregivers included in the bargaining unit so the NLRB can verify that at least 30 percent of represented employees wish to hold a decertification election.
At this time, no date has been set for an election. A date will not be set until we have resolved any pending unfair labor practice charges unless the union files a waiver and agrees to go forward with the election. If that is the case, the election could be scheduled within the next two to three weeks.
“We respect all of our caregivers and their rights to choose when it comes to union representation,” said Jay Henry, CEO of St. Charles Bend. “We are committed to seeing this process through in a way that is fair to all caregivers and want to reassure the community that our ongoing negotiations with the SEIU will in no way impact patient care.”
St. Charles and the SEIU will continue to negotiate the first-time contract during the decertification process.
For more information on the decertification process, visit www.nlrb.gov.
