Unhappy with their contract and claiming the union failed to deliver what they expected, a group of Kent Hospital nurses continues to gather signatures in efforts to conduct a de-authorization vote.

“We’re getting there. We’re very optimistic,” says Jeanette Geary, an emergency department nurse, who started the drive only days after United Nurses & Allied Professionals Local 5008 negotiated its first contract with Kent. Nurses voted in the union last October, which the union hailed at the time as a victory for the nurses. Union representative Jack Callaci said yesterday, “a majority of nurses are working to make the union better and the hospital better.”

He noted that a majority of Kent nurses voted to unionize, that a majority approved the contract and that they are a democratic organization. He said that since gaining representation, the union has eliminated delays in pay step increases and that, with the help of the hospital, were able to save the job of an employee who was on an extended leave of absence.

“Working on workplace issues, that’s what we’re focused on,” he said.

By law, the nurses cannot seek to de-certify the union until the contract expires in another two years. However, the nurses can act to de-authorize the union, thereby exempting them from paying dues that amount to about $500 per member a year. Currently the nurses are faced with a forced dues clause. Technically the union can demand that the hospital fire a nurse for failing to pay dues.

Geary is also circulating Beck Letters.

This document, explained Patrick Semmens, legislative information director of the National Right to Work Foundation, removes people from formal membership in the union. This reduces what the union can collect for dues, as non-formal members are not required to pay for lobbying and other union political activities.

He said by signing a Beck Letter, nurses would be exempted from any action the union might bring for speaking out against the union.

Geary further notes that by signing the letter, a nurse will revoke the union’s ability to automatically deduct dues from their payroll.

But de-authorization is not a simple process as Geary, who initially supported the union and was a union representative, has learned. She has enlisted the help of the National Right to Work Foundation and has signed an agreement for legal representation. In order to conduct a de-authorization vote, 30 percent of the eligible group consisting of 666 nurses, must sign a petition. Once that has been validated by the National Labor Relations Board, the next step is a vote. A majority vote will de-authorize the union, but this is not a majority of those voting, but rather a majority of the membership, in other words 334.

That could prove difficult as 321, or less than half those eligible, voted on the contract in July. The vote approving the contract was 172 to 149.

While union representatives said copies of the contract were made available prior to the vote, Geary said this past Saturday that nurses still don’t have them.

This complaint is echoed by intensive care nurse Meg Webb, who in an e-mail to the Beacon said union representatives told her the document is being proofread in preparation for printing.

“This contract was already voted on and UNAP representatives assert that copies were made available to members. How is this possible if it’s still not available?” Webb writes. Callaci said copies of the tentative agreement were available at the time of the contract vote and that signed and printed copies of the final agreement will be available “in short order.”

Geary said her major issues with the agreement are that it fails to address staffing levels and job security, which she considers key to why nurses turned to the union in the first place. Also, she is not happy with the 7-day layoff provision in the contract.

According to information released after the vote, the agreement gives step 9 nurses what amounts to an 8 percent pay raise over two years. Nurses also are to co-pay 6 percent of their health care premiums in the first year that is increased to 8 percent in the second year. The hospital estimates the added cost of the contract at about $2.5 million.

In addition to issues with the contract, Geary said attorneys at National Right to Work Foundation are filing complaints with the NLRB regarding dues collections.

“Nurses have been told, and it is in writing from the union that nurses must sign an automatic payroll deduction form, or pay dues six months in advance. This is illegal. Nurses who participate on-the-job in this activity are involving themselves in illegal activity,” Geary writes in an e-mail to the paper.