We certainly have voluntary meetings," Petrini said. "It's not anything that's prohibited by the agreement. We feel employees need to hear both sides of the debate. If there's an opportunity for voluntary dialogue, it's not defined as a captive meeting."

Does the hospital consider it permissible to invite staffers to a mandatory meeting about other subjects, then turn to union topics with the offer to allow people to leave?

"I have not known of this concern," Petrini said. "If there is a concern, there is a process by which this can be adjudicated."

A Busy Arbitrator

Petrini was referring to one of the strongest aspects of the agreement: the appointment of an arbitrator chosen by both the union and the hospital to settle disputes quickly over allegations of misconduct by either side. That arbitrator has suddenly gotten busy -- a sign of how the pacific landscape has morphed into a battleground again.

The union has filed some 50 complaints along the lines of those discussed at Thursday's conference. Now the hospital has started doing the same. Petrini said the hospital considers Thursday's press conference, and Monday's with the clergy, a violation of the promise in the agreement not to "disparage" the other side.

Um, so now it's "disparaging" to point out that the hospital is violating the conduct agreement? When does "disparaging" end and "whistleblowing" begin, or is there no such thing in the hospital's calculus? It's long past time for the powers that be at Yale New Haven hospital to stop trying to sneak past the agreement they signed and intimidate and harass workers. Let the workers decide for themselves whether they want to form a union, and if they decide to do so, negotiate with them in good faith, something which seems to have been sorely lacking from the hospital management thus far.