A crowd of nurses and their supporters erupted into applause Tuesday night after the Tompkins County Legislature voted unanimously to pass a resolution supporting Cayuga Medical Center nurses’ efforts to unionize.
The move comes about a month after nurses announced their intention to unionize with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). Over 70 percent of nurses signed union cards, according to the organization. Cayuga Medical Center did not voluntarily recognize the union. Now, nurses will vote on whether or not to officially unionize next week.
Medical surgical nurse Heather Bretz was holding back tears throughout the meeting.
“Sometimes at work it can feel like we're isolated. We're slogging away in the dark,” Bretz said. “To hear so many people come forward in their free time to tell us that it matters to them, means everything.”
The resolution also encourages Cayuga Medical Center to follow labor laws and to stay neutral during the union election.
Last month, the CWA filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against the hospital. Union representatives said hospital management read an anti-union message during a mandatory meeting, and that employees were reprimanded for speaking up in support of the union.
In 2018, a NLRB judge found that the hospital had unlawfully fired two nurses to shut down a previous union drive.
Bretz remembers those firings.
“I just started to work at the hospital, so I didn't know anything about the background. I just knew that they were firing nurses who tried to organize it, and that was really scary,” Bretz said.
However, all these years later, Bretz is hopeful.
“It's a much different effort this time, and we've already been much more successful.”
In a statement to WSKG, CEO of Centralus Health and Cayuga Medical Center Rob Lawlis said the hospital was "committed to a fair and lawful election process that gives every nurse the right to cast a confidential vote based on their own views.”
Lawlis wrote that the hospital has offered “voluntary educational opportunities so nurses can make informed individual decisions."
He added that the hospital would “continue working alongside our nurses and all members of our team to ensure Cayuga Medical Center remains a good place to work and a trusted place to receive care.”
The nurses will vote on January 14 and 15.