UnityPoint spending millions in bid to block nurses union
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UnityPoint Health has spent between $3.7 million and $6.1 million to quash a unionization effort among nurses at four Des Moines metro hospitals, according to an estimate from the nonprofit watchdog group LaborLab.
Why it matters: LaborLab — a group based in Montana that advocates for worker rights — estimates that it could be the most costly union campaign in hospital history.
Catch up quick: Nurses at Methodist, Methodist West, Blank, and Lutheran hospitals partnered with Teamsters Local 90 and started a union effort last year.
- Their goal is to have more influence over operations to improve patient care, staffing and resource shortages.
- The group, United Nurses of Iowa, collected signatures from more than 30% of the roughly 2,000 affected employees, which led to a vote starting Oct. 5 on whether to unionize.
The other side: UnityPoint argues that unions can lead to a loss of autonomy and could negatively affect worker pay and benefits for the roughly 2,000 nurses who would be unionized.
Zoom in: LaborLab's estimates are largely based on previous pay to lawyers and consultants, as reported in hundreds of hospital disclosure forms from other facilities that it reviewed.
- Some people hired for UnityPoint's campaign have previously been paid more than $350 an hour, per LaborLab.
State of play: Even the lower estimate shows UnityPoint's spending to be near the $4 million that Centura Health spent on consultants in an unsuccessful bid to block unionization in Colorado a few years ago, according to LaborLab.
What they're saying: UnityPoint has "a small army of union busters" who are sometimes portrayed as unbiased experts but are, in truth, "hired guns," LaborLab executive director Bob Funk tells Axios.
- UnityPoint said in an unsigned statement to Axios that its focus is on ensuring that employees have access to accurate information to make informed decisions about union representation.
The intrigue: UnityPoint said it is "investing heavily in time, energy, and resources" but declined to comment specifically on LaborLab's estimates.
- The money spent on anti-labor consultants would be better used to address chronic understaffing, Alex Wilkin, a nurse at Methodist and union advocate, tells Axios.
What's next: Employee voting concludes Oct. 7, with the results tabulated the following day.