Healthcare providers are experiencing a continuing crunch for money, with health insurance carriers and state and federal governments reducing payments for healthcare services such as unreimbursed care.
In addition to those concerns, healthcare providers need to keep abreast of union activities and legislation, especially in this election year, said Barry Elson, partner at Thorp Reed & Armstrong.
"It's the issue to come," according to Elson, whose specializes in labor and employment law and civil litigation in industries including healthcare.
Elson is talking about the Employee Free Choice Act, which was introduced in Congress last year. The Act calls for, among other things, allowing employees to form unions by signing cards authorizing union representation and providing mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes.
Under the Act, employers would no longer have the opportunity to call for a secret ballot election when a majority of employees have signed union cards and there is no evidence of illegal coercion.
In addition, if an employer and union cannot agree to a first collective bargaining contract terms within 90 days, either employer or union may request federal mediation. If terms are not agreed to after an additional 30 days, federal mediation may provide binding arbitration.
"This is an enormous change," Elson said, referring to the collective bargaining process and secret ballot elections.
Healthcare providers, in particular hospitals and nursing homes, need to be vigilant because unions are finding "fertile ground" in unionizing nurses and healthcare service and maintenance employees, he said. "The healthcare industry has been increasing in unionization over the last couple of years," he said.
The act helps increase the pressure on wages and benefits, he said. "This is an attempt to drive up wages," he added. If hospitals are forced to accept a package where there are no funds to pay for it, union employees would lose their job anyway, he said.
Ultimately, Elson said, hospitals and nursing homes have to demonstrate to employees that the economy is creating pressures and that they are doing the best they possibly can.
While it's a hot topic now, the outcome of the election – not so much the presidential election as the Congressional election, Elson stressed – will determine the direction of the Employee Free Choice Act.