Unions allege Stanford Healthcare illegally threatened security guard jobs over union plans

Teamsters, the union representing security staff at Stanford Health Care (SHC), said in a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) complaint that SHC threatened security staff jobs and punished employees for organizing illegal transfers. claimed to have

Teamsters said in a filing last month that the hospital system threatened that unionization would cause “staff cuts” and that staff would “lose profits” as a result. The union filed another complaint this week that employees were “intimidated, coerced and retaliated against” for exercising their legally protected right to organize.

The Teamsters Union has received emails from multiple Stanford security officials, obtained by The Daily, outlining several NLRB violations. These include substitution threats through contractual security, changes in work assignments since the topic of the organization surfaced, and promises of promotion as a reward for not unionizing.

According to a Bloomberg article, Teamsters has been trying to organize a group of more than 130 Stanford Healthcare security staff members for months. In April, according to Pablo Barrera, Teamsters Local 853 business representative representing the security guard, the union asked Stanford to acknowledge the union and negotiate.

In a statement to The Daily, Stanford Health Care spokesperson Juille Gracieus said Stanford Health Care “respects the rights of all employees and believes that it is their own choice to join a union or not.” I am.”

Greicius declined to comment on the specific allegations of management-level threats raised in the filing.

According to Bellera, Stanford rejected the Teamsters’ request, stating that according to the National Labor Relations Act, the proper way for workers to form a union is through the election of a labor board overseen by the NLRB. rice field.

Gracieus writes: “In this particular instance, Teamster represented other working groups besides the guards, so federal labor law restricted the Teamster union from pursuing traditional petitions and his NLRB election. This is a fact confirmed and confirmed by Teamster.”

The legal barrier in question, Section 9(b)(3) of the National Labor Relations Act, states:[N]o Labor organizations, if such organizations accept membership or are directly or indirectly affiliated with an organization accepting membership, as representatives of employees in security bargaining units; shall be certified. Employees other than security guards.

However, Stanford can voluntarily recognize the union and start negotiations for a fair deal, according to the Teamsters Union.

“Section 9(b)(3) prohibits the NLRB from conducting security guard elections requiring that they be represented by labor organizations that recognize both security guards and non-security guards, but employers You can voluntarily allow “mixed guard unions”. act,” wrote Barrera, citing multiple cases where this was possible.

State Representatives Ash Kara (27th), Robert Rivas (30th), Mark Stone (29th), Alex Lee (25th), State Senator Dave Cortez (15th) ) are all requesting to join Teamsters. Stanford will pursue this option.

Berrera also outlined alternative procedures for establishing Teamsters Local 853 as an authorized negotiating representative for security personnel.

“First, employers may voluntarily agree to card checking procedures conducted by either FMCS or other acceptable neutral third parties. You may agree to the election process through the State Mediation and Mediation Service (CSMCS), which has agreed to conduct such elections in accordance with the same policies and procedures followed by the NLRB. may agree on an election process through private agencies such as Unilect Election Services, which has conducted many labor and management elections.”

“Both parties respect the right of these employees to freely determine their union representation and are confident that the union and the SHC can agree on procedures to achieve this,” Berrera wrote. I’m here.