By: Paul Rosenberg
Last week the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to uphold its controversial Specialty Healthcare decision. The NLRB’s 3-1 split decision in Specialty Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center of Mobile, overturned a 1991 decision and held that an employer that challenges a proposed bargaining unit on the basis that it improperly excludes certain employees is required to prove that the excluded workers share “an overwhelming community of interest” with those in the proposed unit.
The NLRB argued its ruling merely codifies an old standard – not created a new one. The NLRB also asserted that it is only required to approve an appropriate bargaining unit – not the most efficient unit or the one that is the most convenient for the employer. On the contrary, in its brief before the Court, the company argued that the NLRB's decision to approve the “mini unit” represented a “sea change” that will have an impact not merely in the health care industry, but in all cases falling within the board's jurisdiction. That brief argued that the “overwhelming community of interest” standard effectively makes every discrete job classification (i.e. job title) a viable bargaining unit and essentially delegates unit determination to the petitioning union.
Congress has also entered into the fray. Earlier this week, South Carolina Senator Graham announced that he would introduce an amendment to the Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill when the Senate Appropriations Committee marks it up. The measure would ban the use of federal funds to implement the Specialty Healthcare ruling. Senator Graham explained the legislation is necessary to protect the private sector:
You expect an agency not to become a political advocacy group, and this ruling is just creating havoc in the private sector when the private sector is not doing fine.
Hospitality employers should continue to monitor whether Specialty Healthcare is allowed to stand. Should the ruling remain in-tact, UNITE HERE, IUOE and other labor unions will have an open road to cherry pick job titles within departments. To prepare for this possibility hotels’ executive committees should conduct quarterly reviews with department heads to determine if there are weak areas within specific departments which may be susceptible to organizing. Once areas of vulnerability are discovered they should be promptly corrected.