Judge sides with Dubuque nurses in contract dispute

http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2007/05/02/news/breaking_news/doc46384a3860e2e105687019.txt

Judge sides with Dubuque nurses in contract dispute

DUBUQUE (AP) --- An administrative law judge has ruled that a Dubuque hospital should give its nurses a raise, despite the expiration of their contract last June.

Ira Sandron, administrative law judge for the National Labor Relations Board, agreed with arguments made in a March hearing that Finley Hospital should have continued to pay nurses the wage increase while the sides negotiated another contract.

"As a general rule, an employer may not make unilateral changes when the parties are engaged in negotiations for a new agreement and there has been no overall impasse," Sandron wrote in his decision.

Service Employees International Union Local 199, which represents about 300 Finley nurses, has been negotiating a new contract with Finley since March 2006 and staged two strikes last year.

The union filed grievances with the labor board, accusing Finley of conducting several unfair labor practices.

Sandron agreed with the nurses and ordered Finley to pay them 3 percent wage increases. He also ordered Finley to provide payroll and other documents to the board to analyze the amount of backpay due to the nurses.


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