National Labor Relations Board Overrules Optum’s Objection to Crystal Run Workers’ Union

Two months after Crystal Run Healthcare workers voted overwhelmingly to unionize, the National Labor Relations Board dismissed their employer’s objections to the union election without a hearing.

In a March 24 decision shared with the Times Union, NLRB regional director John D. Doyle, Jr. wrote that evidence put forward by the employer, Optum, did not raise “substantial and material issues affecting the election, or affecting the outcome of the election.”

As a result, 1,120 Crystal Run workers joined 650 other Optum staff in Westchester and the lower Hudson Valley in 1199SEIU, the largest health care union in the Hudson Valley, which also represents staff at Vassar Brothers Medical Center, Putnam Hospital and Northern Dutchess Hospital. At Crystal Run, Optum employs more than 400 physicians and clinicians across 50 medical and surgical specialties at 12 locations in Orange, Sullivan and Rockland counties.

The regional director’s decision came three weeks after Optum, a United Health Group subsidiary, filed two objections. It had argued that the NLRB could not form a quorum to certify the election after President Donald Trump fired Gwynne Wilcox, a Democrat, in January.

Despite the lack of quorum, the NLRB’s regional directors continue to have the authority to conduct elections and certify election results, “regardless of the Board’s composition at any given moment,” Doyle wrote.

Optum also claimed its right to hold work meetings with employees during which the employer discussed its views on unionization were restricted, but last year, the NLRB ruled that those types of meetings were unlawful. Doyle’s decision stated that Optum failed to identify witnesses who would testify about attendance at those meetings anyway.

“The recent determination by the regional director is one step in a longer process with the National Labor Relations Board regarding this election,” an Optum Health spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “We believe we can best achieve our mission when our leaders and employees work together to help people live healthier lives and to help make the health system work better for everyone. A direct relationship, rooted in a collaborative, inclusive team environment, allows for the strongest, most effective and open communication between employees and leaders.”

In his conclusion, Doyle also certified 1199SEIU Health Care as the bargaining representative for all full-time, regular part-time, per diem non-professional employees, and physicians at Crystal Run. That includes employees at Crystal Run locations in Middletown, Monroe, Newburgh, Rock Hill, Goshen, Warwick and West Nyack.

The unionized workers said they plan to push for better health insurance, pay raises, more clearly defined job duties and increased workplace protections. Staff have reported overburdened work schedules that have led to burnout.

Angela Lane, the union’s regional vice president for the Hudson Valley, called Optum’s objections “baseless” in a statement.

“The election results are now certified. Optum and Crystal Run need to stop their games and meet us at the bargaining table,” she said. “Workers across Optum are joining together to win strong contracts that lift wages and benefits to the high standards won by 1199SEIU members across New York.”

Story by Maria M. Silva/Times-Union

Image: More than 1,100 workers at Crystal Run Healthcare facilities in the Hudson Valley are joining 1199SEIU, the largest health care union in the region. (Credit: Times Union file photo)