AFT:  NLRB Decision on Supervisors is an Unreasonable Stretch

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) stretched the definition of a "supervisor" beyond the bounds of common sense to reach its ultimate goal of undermining workers' rights, according to the American Federation of Teachers and its AFT Healthcare division.

"The NLRB's test for determining who is a supervisor is a stretch at best and a threat to safe working conditions at worst," said AFT President Edward J. McElroy, who is also an AFL-CIO vice president.  The AFT represents 70,000 nurses and other health professionals.

The NLRB set the standard by which employers can consider workers as supervisors.  For instance, the board said workers are supervisors if they – on a regular basis, even if it's infrequent – assign an employee to a particular unit or location, to work at a certain time, or to do a significant task.  Also, they could be supervisors if they are held accountable for job tasks they assign.

Nurses and other skilled workers who are considered supervisors under the decision technically could still join unions, but they would not be legally protected from being unjustly fired or disciplined. 

"It's ludicrous to contend that a nurse is a supervisor and shut out of the union because she's in charge of her unit even occasionally, such as for one shift a month," McElroy said. 

If nurses lose union protection, he added, they will be discouraged from speaking out on behalf of their patients.  "This means that nurses might remain silent, for fear of losing their job, if they know of problems that should be corrected, such as dangerous staffing levels, inadequate equipment or other problems that jeopardize patient care."

McElroy also noted that denying union protection to nurses could exacerbate the already serious nationwide nurse shortage, which has resulted in dangerous nurse-to-patient staffing ratios and increasing demands for exhausting and potentially harmful mandatory overtime.  Nurse unions try to work with hospital management on recruiting and retaining nurses so that patients get the care they need. 

McElroy said he is encouraging all AFT Healthcare affiliates to work with their employers to discuss why union protection helps patients and improves nurse recruitment and retention.

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