Courtesy / National Labor Relations Board
A sample of the ballot that nearly 2,000 Maine Medical Center nurses will receive this week.
Updated: March 29, 2021
Maine Med nurses to begin voting this week in historic union attempt
Photo / William Hall
Nurses at Maine Medical Center will begin voting this week in an election to decide whether they'll be represented by the Maine State Nurses Association.
By William Hall
Ballots go out Monday for a vote deciding whether nurses at Maine Medical Center will be unionized for the first time in its 147-year-history.
The election asks nearly 2,000 registered nurses there to accept or reject collective bargaining representation by the Maine State Nurses Association, an affiliate of National Nurses United and the AFL-CIO. Votes are due via mail by April 27 and will be counted by the National Labor Relations Board on April 29.
None of Maine Med’s 10,000 employees are currently union members. Nurses have tried to organize twice before at the 637-bed Portland hospital, the flagship facility of the MaineHealth system. Efforts in both 2013 and 2000 failed.
A group of nurses in January successfully petitioned the NLRB for the union election. Among the goals of organizing, the MSNA has said: better staffing standards, work hours and safety precautions against COVID-19. The pandemic has taken a heavy toll on nurses, who are often the front line of front-line responders.
Pro and con, nurses and others have been highly vocal during the past two months about the prospect of unionizing.
A full-page advertisement in the March 28 Maine Sunday Telegram newspaper said: “We urge Maine Med administration to respect the right of nurses to decide for themselves whether to form a union, in a free and fair election, and end administration’s harassment and intimidation.” The plea was signed by dozens of labor groups, civic organizations, state lawmakers and Portland city councilors.
Earlier this month, some 1,500 current and former Maine Med patients and family members signed a letter expressing their support for the nurses unionizing attempt.
A website for "The Friends of Maine Med Nurses" claims on its website, "They are overworked. They are underpaid. Too much is demanded of them. They put patients first, but too often they are not given the respect they deserve. And all of this was true even before COVID-19."
Meanwhile, medical center officials have said they’re open to the organizing attempt, but believe the best way to improve work conditions and patient care is without a union.
On Monday, MaineHealth spokesman Clay Holtzman said in a prepared statement, “Maine Medical Center respects the right of its nurses to consider the choice of unionization. We stand by each and every one of our nurses and encourage those who are eligible to have their voice heard by casting their ballot.
“As one of the very few hospitals in the country to earn an “A” for safety from Leapfrog and be recognized as a Magnet hospital for nursing excellence three consecutive times, we believe our nurses are strong and fully capable of making an informed decision.”
A Maine Med nurse, Amy Elizabeth, recently echoed Holtzman’s statement in a letter, saying, “What matters is what the nurses want and at this time, the majority of nurses wish to remain union free. As a Magnet status hospital, we are the gold standard for nursing excellence. This means we have a higher percentage of satisfied nurses, lower nurse turnover and vacancy rates, improved clinical outcomes and improved patient satisfaction.”
Another nurse, Jennifer Bussiere, wrote Mainebiz to say, “As a nurse, I have the appropriate PPE to perform my duties, I feel supported and respected, I have no concern about my benefits or pay, and when I email my manager, director, or VP, I always get a prompt response. I am never silenced … I have a voice. I will be voting no.”
About 20% percent of the country’s registered nurses and 10% of licensed practical nurses are union members, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Maine State Nurses Association is the state’s largest nurses union, with roughly 2,000 members.
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