Rush Univ. Med. Ctr. v. NLRB

The Board promulgated the Health Care Rule in 1989, which established eight standardized bargaining units for acute-care hospitals. This case concerns the application of the Health Care Rule on a retrospective basis - in particular, to preexisting bargaining units that did not conform to the eight standardized units set forth in the Rule. The Rule prescribes that, if there is a petition to represent an additional unit in a hospital with preexisting nonconforming units, the Board may find the additional unit appropriate only if it comports, to the extent practicable, with one of the eight standardized units. The Board understands that aspect of the Rule to apply as follows: in any representation election that would create a new bargaining unit, the new unit must include all unrepresented employees who would be grouped together in one of the Rule’s standardized units. At issue in this case is whether the same understanding of the Rule governs an election to add unrepresented employees to a preexisting bargaining unit, as opposed to an election to create a new bargaining unit. In other words, when a union seeks to add unrepresented employees to a preexisting nonconforming unit, must the unit embrace all (and not just some) of the unrepresented employees who would fit within the same standardized unit in the Rule? The Board answered in the negative and reasoned that the addition of employees to an already existing unit - the creation of a new unit - necessarily keeps the number of bargaining units constant. Petitioner, an acute-care facility, argues that the Board’s distinction between preexisting units and new units under the Rule is arbitrary and incompatible with the Board’s own precedent. The court rejected petitioner's challenge to the Board’s interpretation and application of its own regulation. Therefore, the court upheld the Board’s understanding that the Rule is inapplicable in the context of elections to add employees to a preexisting unit. The court denied the petition for review and granted the Board's cross-application for enforcement. View "Rush Univ. Med. Ctr. v. NLRB" on Justia Law