Nurses Union: Huntington Hospital Settles; Previous Union Election Set Aside, Terminations Rescinded

A nurses union said late Tuesday it reached a settlement agreement with the Huntington Memorial Hospital shortly before a scheduled National Labor Relations Board hearing was to have occurred.

California Nurses Association said the settlement agreement rescinds the highly-publicized terminations of two Huntington nurses, Allysha Almada and Vicki Lin, settles all pending labor violations matters, sets aside the results of a 2015 vote by nurses whether to unionize, and will allow the union to move forward with a new election at the hospital.

The agreement was approved by the NLRB, union officials said.

An administrative law judge was slated to review 42 objections to the 2015 election. These included the 175 challenged ballots that led to an inconclusive election result, the terminations of Allysha Almada and Vicki Lin, and other labor law violations allegedly committed by Huntington administration.

The NLRB had anticipated a three to four week hearing, the union said.

With this settlement agreement, a new election will be set by the NLRB following a 60-day posting period, during which an official NLRB notice, outlining the administration’s commitments based on alleged unfair labor practice violations, will be posted throughout the hospital and e-mailed to all RNs, the union said in a statement.