Bid to organize nurses faces setback in Congress

New York Times, April 21, 2009

In 1989 and again in 1994, a clear majority of nurses at a Louisville, KY-based Norton Audubon Hospital signed cards saying they wanted a union. But each time a majority of the nurses later voted down the idea when it was put to a secret ballot. Organized labor points to the fight at Norton Audubon as proof that America's labor laws need to be overhauled: judges ruled that management had prevailed by illegally intimidating and firing nurses. Nurses who want a union plan to try again, and they had expected President Obama and Congress to retool labor laws to make it easier to win. Instead, organized labor may be facing a major setback in the contentious fight over labor laws.