{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Radio Chatskill","title":"National Labor Relations Board Overrules Optum’s Objection to Crystal Run Workers’ Union","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":121,"description":"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.\nIn 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.”\nAs 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.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.\n“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...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/q7XXsnSXT_u4mZLCn3chUorwDmUD_kWiB272D6emB18/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS80N2Uy/OGY5MWUwZThkYTEw/NDVkZGM2ZGZkZDIw/ZjliOS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}