Union renews push for labor protections at UM Medical Center
The Maryland Attorney General?s November opinion cleared up a loophole which kept the University of Maryland Medical Center employees in Baltimore from unionizing. The discrepancy occurred because while the employees are not state employees, the facility is state-run. This meant that the NLRB did not have jurisdiction over the Maryland State management employees, but also, the State Labor Relations Board could not rule on private sector workers. The Attorney General?s opinion suggested several options, which include removing the governor from the selection process of the Medical Center?s board of directors or making the entire hospital a public institution, similar to other hospitals in the University of Maryland healthcare network. The Service Employees International Union has campaigned to help many of the employees at the Medical Center unionize for several years, but because of the technicality have been unable to raise enough support to hold a union certification vote.
See "Union renews push for labor protections at UM Medical Center", Scott Dance, Baltimore Sun, December 8, 2013