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<p>The National Labor Relations Board has upheld a ruling that Wilkes-Barre General Hospital violated federal labor law when it withheld longevity-based pay from nurses last year.</p><p>In an order dated July 14, the NLRB upheld the decision of Administrative Law Judge Susan A. Flynn, who ruled in September that the hospital violated the National Labor Relations Act when it failed to pay longevity-based wage increases to nurses after their union contract expired.</p><p>Wyoming Valley Nurses Association, the local chapter of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, filed an unfair labor practice charge against Wilkes-Barre General and Tennessee-based owner Community Health Systems in early 2014 regarding the issue.</p><p>&#8220;CHS went back on its word to the dedicated nurses at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital who deserve nothing but respect for their caring and commitment to their patients,&#8221; said Terry Marcavage, WVNA/PASNAP Staff Representative. &#8220;By withholding the wage step increase it had agreed to on our contract, CHS demonstrated a clear disrespect for the dedicated nursing staff.&#8221;</p><p>After a trial in Philadelphia in July 2014, Flynn ruled that Wilkes-Barre General and CHS were to make the affected nurses whole by issuing retroactive pay increases. CHS and the hospital appealed the decision to the NLRB.</p><p><strong>Official response</strong></p><p>In response to a request for comment, Renita Fennick, director of Communications for Commonwealth Health, released the following written statement: &#8220;We are disappointed in the ruling of the National Labor Relations Board and are considering our legal options for seeking an appellate court review of the Board&#8217;s decision.&#8221;</p><p>An affiliate of Community Health Systems Inc., Commonwealth Health owns 11 hospitals in Northeastern Pennsylvania, making it the largest hospital network in the region.</p><p>Fennick did not respond to additional questions pertaining to the number of nurses affected and the total amount of money that the NRLB is requiring the hospital to pay back to the nurses.</p><p>Marcavage said she didn&#8217;t know how many of the approximately 485 nurses who work at the hospital would be affected, because longevity pay is based on ranges of employment, and some employees were in the middle of a range for the time period in question &#8212; February 2014 until a new contract was ratified in September 2014.</p><p>She said the union requested that information from CHS in February last year. &#8220;We were told they did not have that information, which I found hard to believe because they would need that information for payroll,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Marcavage said the hospital never provided the information, but that &#8220;the NLRB would send in a compliance officer to get that information so we can determine who was affected.&#8221;</p><p>The old two-year contract that expired April 30, 2013 set hourly rates for nurses in health services at a minimum of $19.54 for those with zero to two years experience to a maximum of $23.84 for those with more than 25 or more years experience, effective May 2011.</p><p>The rates increased in January 2012 to $20.08 on the low end and to $24.50 on the high end; they increased again in January 2013 to $20.48 on the low end and to $24.99 on the high end.</p><p>Hourly rates for nurses working in acute care were generally about $5.50 to $6.50 higher than those in health services.</p><p>&#8220;By ceasing to pay increases to unit employees&#8217; base hourly wage rates based on experience level, as of January 27, 2014, without providing the Union prior notice and an opportunity to bargain, the (hospital) has engaged in an unfair labor practice,&#8221; Flynn had ruled in September.</p><p><strong>Must post notice</strong></p><p>In its decision, the NLRB ordered CHS to post a notice in &#8220;all places where notices to employees are customarily posted&#8221; that it violated the law. Moreover, CHS is obligated to retroactively pay the nurses the back wages they are owed from February 2014 to September 2014, when they ratified their new contract.</p><p>&#8220;What&#8217;s important to recognize coming from Board&#8217;s ruling is that CHS cannot get away with violating the law,&#8221; said Lori Schmidt, a telemetry nurse and treasurer for the local union. &#8220;Our union, made up of bedside nurses who care for the patients in this community, will continue to hold this for-profit company from Tennessee accountable for its actions.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wilkes-Barre General Hospital is seen in a 2014 photo. The National Labor Relations Board has upheld a ruling that the hospital violated federal labor law when it withheld longevity-based pay from nurses last year. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_TTL121714General1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wilkes-Barre General Hospital is seen in a 2014 photo. The National Labor Relations Board has upheld a ruling that the hospital violated federal labor law when it withheld longevity-based pay from nurses last year. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Panel says withholding nurses&#8217; longevity pay violated law</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Steve Mocarsky</p><p>smocarsky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Steve Mocarsky at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @TLSteveMocarsky.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

NLRB: Wilkes-Barre General Hospital violated federal law by withholding nurses’ longevity pay