The Communication Workers of America (CWA) union has filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against an Ithaca hospital.
Nurses at Cayuga Medical Center announced their plans to unionize last week.
A statement from the CWA said hospital management read an anti-union message during a mandatory meeting last Friday, and that employees were reprimanded for speaking up in support of the union.
“By holding captive audience, anti-union meetings, Cayuga Medical Center has not respected the right of its nurses to freely organize,” CWA District Vice President Dennis Trainor said in a statement.
In a statement, a hospital representative said they would not comment on the allegations because of pending action with the NLRB.
“While we disagree that a union is in the best interests of our nurses, we respect their right to a fair election,” the statement read. “We deeply value the voices of our nurses and believe we can continue to care for our communities best by working directly with our nurses without an outside, third-party intermediary.”
The union has asked the hospital for voluntary recognition, but recently announced that it has also filed a petition for a union election overseen by the NLRB.
In 2017, NLRB found that the hospital unlawfully fired two nurses during a prior unionization attempt.