An arbitrator has slapped Yale-New Haven Hospital with a $4.5 million fine after concluding that the hospital interfered in a union election. In a 47-page decision, arbitrator Margaret Kern held that the hospital had engaged in a "methodical dismantling" of an election agreement struck between the hospitals, union and the city of New Haven.
The Service Employees International Union, which had planned to hold the election in December, had called it off in December, alleging that the hospital had intimidated union supporters and spread incorrect information. The arbitrator is now requiring Yale-New Haven to pay the union $2.3 million for its organizing expenses. She's also demanding that the hospital pay $2.2 million to the 1,700 employees who would have been eligible to vote--a sum equal to the amount it spent on anti-union consultants.
To learn more about the dispute:
- read this New Haven Independent piece
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