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December 19, 2004NMH Nurses: Strike not overThey may hold another voteByRecord-Eagle staff writer PETOSKEY - Nurses continue to strike at Northern Michigan Hospital, RNs on the picket line said, more than two years after they walked out and despite a recent petition that questions whether most of the hospital's nurses wish to remain affiliated with the Teamsters union. Hospital management last week said a majority of nurses submitted petitions stating they no longer wished to be represented by or be members of Teamsters Local 406. Management declared they therefore no longer recognize the union as the majority representative of the nurses, and would no longer bargain with it. "For me personally it hasn't changed anything," said striking nurse Lisa Paquette. "I went out on strike, I voted and won an election twice for union representation," she said. "The issues that led me to choose to strike definitely have not been resolved." Striking nurse Julia Hulderman added, "It doesn't change the fact I'm on strike, and it doesn't change the reasons I'm on strike." More than half of the hospital's then-470 nurses went on strike on Nov. 14, 2002, seeking better pay and benefits, reduced patient-to-nurse ratios and a greater say in patient care issues. The work stoppage is the longest nursing strike in U.S. history. Hulderman said striking nurses are considering their options, including challenging the petitions before the National Labor Relations Board, or circulating their own petition to hold another vote of nurses on whether the Teamsters should represent them. The union won a vote last year by a wider margin than when it was first installed. "I truly don't believe that (nurses opposing the union) actually have majority status, and there's a whole bunch of reasons why," Hulderman said. Hulderman said she questions whether hospital management considered every eligible nurse as part of the bargaining unit when determining a majority favored dropping the Teamsters. The petition-circulation process can also be "coercive" and make nurses inside the hospital feel obligated to sign or face recriminations, unlike the anonymity of a vote, she said. Hospital management representatives did not respond to numerous Record-Eagle messages seeking comment left over three days. National Labor Relations Board assistant regional manager Raymond Kassab said the Teamsters could theoretically challenge various aspects of the petition. "If the employer is too deeply involved in it, it could be grounds for issuing a complaint against them. That would take investigation," he said. "Or they could file charges on other things, saying the employers' unlawful conduct created the disaffection." Teamsters Local 406 business agent Sharon Norton said it's ironic hospital management is now eager to recognize nurses' purported majority opinion, when a majority showed their support of unionization through two union certification votes over three years. "There's nothing changed here," she said. "The nurses and the Teamsters will decide when this strike is over, not Northern Michigan Hospital in a one-paragraph statement," she said.
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