Registered nurses at CommonSpirit Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to hold a union election.
The petition covers 700 full-time, regular part-time and per diem registered nurses employed at the system’s main local hospital at 2525 Desales Ave., according to the National Labor Relations Board. The petition, filed Wednesday, excludes all other employees, including registered nurses employed by other companies or agencies.
In an email to physicians and advanced practice providers Wednesday, Matt Brown, south region president at CommonSpirit Health, said the hospital received notice that the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United filed the formal election petition to organize nurses at the main Chattanooga hospital.
The petition starts a legal process to hold a secret-ballot election for registered nurses to decide whether to be represented by the association, he said.
(READ MORE: Construction begins on CommonSpirit Memorial rehab hospital in Ooltewah)
“Before an election is scheduled, the NLRB needs to take several steps, including determining which job classifications are appropriately included in the voting group and deciding when and where to conduct the election,” Brown said.
“CommonSpirit Memorial Hospital Chattanooga continues to believe that we have a strong and positive direct relationship with our employees,” he said. “We will ensure our team members receive the information they need to evaluate the promises being made to them by out-of-state organizers from CNA. Please look for ongoing updates about the NLRB election process.”
There are two main ways to form a union through the National Labor Relations Board, according to the independent federal agency.
Employees can contact a union organizer or start a union and gather signed union authorization cards from a majority of members. They can then ask for voluntary recognition from an employer. If the employer recognizes the union, the union can begin bargaining. If not, the union can file a petition for an election.
The other way to form a union is to get at least 30% of employees to sign union authorization cards and then file directly with the agency for a union petition. If the union wins a majority of votes cast, the employers must bargain in good faith over working conditions.
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The CommonSpirit petition did not say whether the nurses had sought voluntary recognition from the hospital system. The other two large local hospital systems in Chattanooga, Erlanger Health and Parkridge Health System, are not unionized.
“While we respect each RN’s right to choose or not choose to be represented by a union, we prefer and hope to maintain a direct relationship with our team members,” CommonSpirit spokesperson Karen Long said in an emailed statement. “We believe the direct relationship that we share with our valued and respected RNs is important to quality patient care and to the success of our organization.”
CommonSpirit Memorial changed its name from CHI Memorial last year to conform to the name of its parent company, Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health. The hospital system employs more than 4,500 employees in the region.
The system’s hospitals include CommonSpirit Memorial Hospital Chattanooga, CommonSpirit Memorial Hospital Hixson and CommonSpirit Memorial Hospital North Georgia.
National Nurses United, which calls itself the largest union and professional association of registered nurses in U.S. history, has more than 225,000 members nationwide. The California Nurses Association played a “lead role” in organizing state nursing associations into National Nurses United in 2009, according to the union’s website.
Contact business reporter Daniel Dassow at ddassow@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.
ddassow@timesfreepress.com
Daniel Dassow is a business reporter for the Chattanooga Times Free Press. He earned degrees in English and religious studies from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2023, where he served as editor-in-chief of The Daily Beacon. He previously worked as a tech and energy reporter for the Knoxville News Sentinel. He is the youngest of six siblings. Contact him at 423-757-6318 or ddassow@timesfreepress.com.
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