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Trends in National Labor Relations Board Decisions for the Health Care Industry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2021

Don A. Zimmerman
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Extract

The 1974 health care amendments to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or the Act) have given rise to several significant developments in the case law. This article focuses on the subjects of appropriate bargaining units, the inclusion — or exclusion — of house staff under the NLRA, and, briefly, the special strike notice requirements under section 8(g) of the Act. These areas have been the subject of substantial controversy and conflict among the federal courts.

In 1947, the Taft-Hartley Act excluded from the term “employer” as defined in the NLRA, “any corporation or association operating a hospital, if no part of the net earnings inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.” In 1974, Congress removed the exclusion for voluntary, nonprofit hospitals and added the new term “health care institution.” In so doing, it found “no acceptable reason why 1,427,012 employees of … non-profit, nonpublic hospitals … should continue to be excluded from the coverage and protections of the Act.

Type
Article
Information
Law, Medicine and Healthcare , Volume 9 , Issue 6 , October 1981 , pp. 12 - 43
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 1981

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References

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