Union Targets Kootenai Hospital Union Organizers Plan Meeting With Kmc Nurses, Housekeepers

A Washington state employees union wants to represent Kootenai Medical Center employees, and will try to sell the benefits of a labor union to them on Monday.

A hospital spokesman on Friday said KMC’s administration will adamantly oppose any effort to unionize.

Many of KMC’s more than 1,000 workers received mailings this past week from the Washington Council of County and City Employees. The mailings included a card that would authorize the union to call for a National Labor Board of Relations-supervised election that could install a union at North Idaho’s largest medical center.

The union will hold meetings Monday at the Coeur d’Alene Inn on Appleway to explain what representation would mean to nurses, housekeepers and other non-administrative staff at the hospital.

Administrators at KMC reached Friday said they weren’t at all surprised by the mailing or the effort to unionize the work force.

“It’s logical for them to target us,” said Mike Regan, spokesman for KMC. “It’s been the busiest year ever in the health care industry in terms of union activity.”

The health care industry has faced its share of turmoil this year, said Betsy Shepherd, director of human resources at the hospital. “But that turmoil doesn’t exist here. We want our employees to know that they can feel free to communicate with us about this and talk to their supervisors about it.”

Many employees were upset that the union had obtained their addresses and sent them the mailing, Shepherd said.

Attempts to reach Bill Keenan, spokesman for the union in Spokane, were not successful Friday.

Kootenai Medical Center is among the largest employers in the Panhandle, with about 1,026 people on its payroll, including part-time personnel. The hospital added more than 100 new employees last year, Shepherd said, so job security should not be a concern for current employees. “We are doing well financially.”

Idaho is an “at will” state, meaning employers can fire workers for any reason unless they are under contract or protected under discrimination laws of the state.

Regan and Shepherd said their feedback from employees suggests little support for a union, but the process is just beginning.

“Being so close to Washington, which is a very organized state, this didn’t really surprise us,” Regan said. “We don’t want to overreact.”

, DataTimes