A despite over mandatory overtime at Pawtucket, RI-based Memorial hospital has led to the filing of a National Labor Relations Board complain against the 294-bed community hospital. The union, which represents nurses and hospital workers, are upset because the hospital has banned a button which the executives see as inflammatory. The buttons, which say "KNOW RESPECT" include a small "k" and "w" in the first word, leading them to read "NO RESPECT" from a distance. The union says the buttons are intended to express their belief that the hospital was showing them no respect during contract talks, but the hospital argues that the buttons could be interpreted as meaning that the employees have no respect for patients at the hospital, and ordered members to stop wearing them. The resulting NLRB complaint is scheduled to be heard in Boston in early March. Meanwhile, the union has not made progress on the mandatory overtime policy, but a bill has been filed in the state's general assembly which would ban such overtime save in emergency situations.
For more background on the dispute:
- read this article from The Providence Journal