Slick Rick issues statement distancing himself from anti-union tactics at hospital

Although Yale New Haven Hospital is not a part of Yale University, I serve on the hospital’s board of trustees, and I am dismayed by the recent actions of the hospital that violated the letter and spirit of its agreement with SEIU’s District 1199. Yale University assisted the two parties in negotiating this agreement to conduct a free and fair election, and I have consistently urged hospital management to abide by its terms. When the staff meetings reviewed by the arbitrator first came to my attention last week, I called for their immediate cessation.

I urge the hospital and the union to sit down and find a resolution that would restore a climate in which a fair, secret ballot election can be held. The University stands ready to assist the parties in finding a constructive solution.

Is there a climate in which a fair secret ballot election can be held? Has the hospital's conduct in fact demonstrated that in order to have a fair process, workers will need stricter controls on YNHH's conduct during any organizing drive? Would the amount of time necessary to cool the air following the captive audience meetings and terror tactics not constitute exactly what the hospital administration is hoping for? Is Levin just trying to keep his head above the fray or is he truly committed to ensuring that Hospital Workers have the right to organize? I doubt the answer to the final question is the latter, given Levin's own terrible record on the right to organize elsewhere within the university, (The RAI report, four years ago, quoted one anonymous worker as saying “The University accepts unionism as a thought proposition but quietly whispers,‘but not on my property.’”) but if he's really committed to pressuring Borgstrom et al to stop their harassment and intimidation of workers, then that's a good thing.

The problem is the wording of Levin's statement, which suggests that a card check agreement is out of the question, but in fact card check may be one of the best ways forward. Still, while I have reason to be extremely skeptical, i hope that this statement marks a real commitment on the part of President Levin to play an active role in ensuring that Yale-New Haven Hospital workers' right to a free and fair process to decide whether they want to form a union is not violated again. Regardless of Levin's real intentions, i will hold him accountable to the spirit these words should express, and i expect other alumni of the university to do the same.