The vote came back 1,161 in favor to 582 against, according to the hospital. The decision to unionize covers the more than 2,000 nurses employed by the hospital. The nurses will join an estimated 40,000 nurses statewide who are represented by the NYSNA.
The vote to unionize comes amid growing concern among nurses regarding issues such as pay, benefits and salary at Albany Medical Center.
In late March, New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for a state investigation regarding nurses’ complaints of threatening and coercive behavior at the hospital meant to dissuade the unionization effort. Albany Medical Center CEO James Barba subsequently sent a memo to staff, saying the union had made false allegations and that the hospital was “pro-Albany Med employees” who had been bullied, reports the Times Union.
According to the report, the National Labor Relations Board still has to certify the election results for them to be official. This was not the first unionization attempt by nurses at the hospital. Unionization attempts also occurred in 2000, 2001 and 2003, according to the report.
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