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Kentucky River Nurse Supervisor Rulings Questions You May Be Asked
—And Suggested Responses

Other nurses and members of the public and the media may ask you about the charge nurse union rights issue and Kentucky River decision. We have a real opportunity to educate the public about the important work that nurses do and the roles we play on the health care team. The questions and answers below will help you respond with the facts and use the provided talking points to help others understand why this decision is so critical to nurses and their patients.

How does this decision affect nurses?

JUST THE FACTS:

• RNs could lose protections under union contracts and rights to engage in a wide range of protected activity under federal labor law. We need to take action to make sure this doesn’t happen.

USE THE TALKING POINTS:

• The decision affects patients, nurses and hospitals. How much depends a lot on how hospitals respond to it. If hospitals take the position that nurses are “supervisors” when we’re really not, there’s going to be great confusion and difficulty, because nurses aren’t going to act as “charge nurses” if that means their right to union representation is taken away. Serving as a charge nurse in a patient care unit doesn’t turn us into supervisors.

What is our union doing about this?

JUST THE FACTS:

• Our union is fighting to protect member rights and helping members see what they could lose if they’re denied union rights and benefits. We also are lobbying Congress and preparing and distributing contract language which protects nurses’ rights.

USE THE TALKING POINTS:

• Our union is fighting not only to protect our members’ rights, but also patient safety. If nurses no longer have a union behind them, they face a greater threat when they speak out on behalf of their patients.

How many union members are affected by this decision?

JUST THE FACTS:

• Every union RN is potentially affected, because declaring certain RNs to be “supervisory” will have a direct impact on patient needs and staffing.
• The Economic Policy Institute estimates that 843,000 RNs and 123,800 LPN/LVNs nationally will be affect by this decision.

USE THE TALKING POINTS:

• A hospital in Salt Lake City argued that two-thirds of the nursing staff should be considered supervisors because of charge nurse duties. A hospital in Washington State claimed that all nurses are supervisors. Both examples are absurd, but they show how hospitals might try to use this decision to deny union representation to all RNs.
• There’s a difference between being a nurse who provides patient care and a nursing supervisor. We know the difference, our supervisors know the difference and hospitals know the difference.
• Every nurse union member could be affected by this decision in some way—the more nurses there are affected, the more patients are affected.

Have any hospitals thus far tried to argue that charge nurses are supervisors?

JUST THE FACTS:

• Yes: Salt Lake City Regional Medical Center tried to argue that two-thirds of its nurses were charge nurses and therefore supervisors in a 2002 organizing campaign there. This case is one of the NLRB cases awaiting decision.
• Administrators at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Washington State recently tried to argue that all RNs at the facility were supervisors before backing down.

USE THE TALKING POINTS:

• Nurses, nursing administrators and hospitals know the difference between a charge nurse and a supervisor. We expect hospital CEOs who are committed to a smoothly running facility and working with nurses to achieve quality patient care will continue to recognize the difference.

What are nurses going to do about it?

FACTS AND TALKING POINTS:

• Everything in our power to prevent the loss of our rights to union representation. That is in the best interests of all nurses and patients.
• We are working to persuade hospitals that it is unwise and unnecessary to redefine supervisory duties and deny union representation.
• We will fight for strong contract language to protect our rights to union representation.
• Nurses who have representation rights aren’t going to give up those rights.

What will hospitals do about reclassifying nurses as supervisors?

JUST THE FACTS:

• The NLRB decision doesn’t require any hospital to redefine charge nurses as supervisors.

USE THE TALKING POINTS:

• Nurses, nursing administrators and hospitals know the difference between a charge nurse and a supervisor. We expect hospital CEOs who are committed to a smoothly running facility and working with nurses to achieve quality patient care will continue to recognize the difference.

What should you do if your hospital tries to redefine you as supervisory?

JUST THE FACTS:

• Your hospital may not redefine you as supervisory during the life of your contract. If it tries to do so, contact your local union about filing charges under the NLRB.
• If your hospital tries redefine you as supervisory after your contract’s expiration, fight for new contract language to protect your right to a union.

USE THE TALKING POINTS:

• Nurses who have representation rights aren’t going to give up those rights.

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