FORT KENT, Maine – Unionized nurses at Northern Maine Medical Center announced on Wednesday that they will file a federal unfair labor practice charge against their employer, alleging that management has not been bargaining in good faith.
The announcement was made during an informational picket outside the hospital, where nurses said they would be filing the charge with the National Labor Relations Board the following morning, Oct. 24. About 20 people participated in the picketing.
Sixty-two percent of roughly 90 nurses first voted to unionize in January and join the Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, an affiliate of National Nurses United.
The union offered March dates to meet with management and negotiate their first contract, but the first meeting did not occur until April, union officials say.
Ami Maxwell, an RN at NMMC, said the union’s charge is that management is not bargaining in good faith.
“We want the rate of negotiations to increase so that we can come to an agreement on our first contract,” Maxwell said.
She said the union has offered over 100 different dates to meet with management, but they have only been able to meet 12 times so far. The sessions that have taken place have been slow paced, she said, adding that management has insisted on remote meetings despite working in the same building.
“They won’t let us meet at the hospital,” Maxwell said. “So all of the union members are negotiating at the university while they, I think, are mostly in their offices at Northern Maine Medical Center and their lawyer is remote.”
NMMC RN Bradley Martinez said this is an example of why it feels like they’ve been treated with a lack of respect throughout the process.
“That’s why we’re filing this unfair labor practice, because we know we deserve better, and our community deserves better,” he said.
NMMC Marketing and Communications Manager Nichole Jandreau said on Wednesday afternoon that the hospital has been bargaining with the union in good faith.
“Our nurses are very important to us and are an integral part of our success and the quality care we provide to our patients,” Jandreau said. “We respect our nurses and will continue to bargain in good faith.”
One of the contract’s major priorities is safe staffing ratios, which nurses say will help the facility provide safer and higher quality patient care.
Maxwell said the union has not proposed any numbers for staffing ratios at this point, because they have not gotten that far in the bargaining process. She said the union has not addressed wages yet.
“Financially, we don’t know the final numbers, but we are fighting for the best possible deal for our families and our community, so that we can retain people to work in our community and at the hospital,” Martinez said.
Maxwell said they also hope to get more access to education, which would allow RNs to improve their skills, potentially through reimbursing classes taken at the local university.
Earlier this month, unionized nurses publicly spoke out against the hospital’s decision to close its adolescent psychiatric unit. No jobs were lost as a result of this closure, however nine nurses were moved to other areas of the hospital where they did not have as much experience.
Since voting to join the union earlier this year, Maxwell said they have all been focused on coming together and creating a strong contract.
“We want Northern Maine Medical Center to come to the table in person and bargain in good faith,” she said. “We don’t think that’s happening currently. We want management to stop dragging their feet and meet their obligation to bargain a first contract with us so that we can provide good care for the members of the St. John Valley.”
