Workers permanently assigned as shift supervisors should be considered supervisory staff and thus not covered by a federal law ensuring a right to union representation, the National Labor Relations Board said Tuesday. In a case involving health care industry "charge nurses" but with implications for the broader U.S. work force, the labor board also held that people who work such supervisory shifts only on a rotating basis are not exempt from union coverage. The 3-2 decision in the "Kentucky River" cases was long awaited by organized labor and business.
See "NLRB Redefines Union Eligibilility", Will Lester, San Francisco Chronicle, October 2, 2006