Nurses at Maine Med unionize for the first time, winning election by 14% margin

Photo / William Hall In votes counted Thursday, nurses at Maine Medical Center opted to accept representation by the Maine State Nurses Association.

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By William Hall

Nurses at Maine Medical Center have voted to unionize, after a sometimes heated election concluded this week and after two failed attempts since 2000.

Ballots were counted Thursday night and tallied 1,001 to 750 in favor of representation by the Maine State Nurses Association and National Nurses United, according to the National Labor Relations Board. Nurses at the Maine Med campus on Portland's Western Promenade, the Brighton campus and the Scarborough Surgery Center will all be represented.

The mail-in election began March 29 and asked nearly 2,000 registered nurses employed by Maine Med to accept or reject collective bargaining representation. The deadline for ballots was Tuesday.

In January nurses successfully petitioned the NLRB for the election. Among the goals of organizing, the MSNA said at the time, were better staffing standards, work hours and safety precautions against COVID-19.

Late Thursday evening, MSNA President Cokie Giles said in a news release, “It’s a new day for nurses and patients across Maine. I am thrilled for my colleagues at Maine Med, for their resolve to win a collective voice for their patients and their community. And I look forward to working with you for the future of high-quality patient care for all Maine residents.”

Giles, who is also a vice president of NNU, called on Maine Med’s administration to “respect the democratic vote of the RNs, and begin work with them to negotiate a first collective bargaining agreement that would be in the best interests of the hospital, the nurses and the community.”

Maine Med issued a statement Thursday saying the hospital is reviewing the election results within the guidelines and seven-day timeframe set by the NLRB.

“We had hoped for a different outcome as we believe that the best way for Maine Medical Center to remain the region’s premier provider of medical care is to work directly with our care team members,” said Jeff Sanders, MMC president. “We will continue to put the care of our patients and welfare of our care team at the forefront of our decision making including putting our core values of respect, integrity, excellence, ownership, innovation and being patient-centered into action.”

Prior to the election, none of Maine Med’s 10,000 employees were members of a union, and nurses had never organized at the 637-bed Portland hospital, the flagship of the MaineHealth system. Nurses tried and failed in both 2013 and 2000 to form a union.

In the most recent organizing drive, both nurses and the public were highly vocal. Union backers placed newspaper advertisements, and some 1,500 people signed a letter in endorsement of organizing. But Maine Med received its share of support, including a letter a nurse wrote to Mainebiz, saying, “I have no concern about my benefits or pay, and when I email my manager, director or VP, I always get a prompt response. I am never silenced … I have a voice. I will be voting no.”

With the new members, the Maine State Nurses Association will roughly double in size from its current enrollment of 2,000.

While nurses for decades shunned unions, there's been growing interest in them over recent years. The California Nurses Association in 2019 reported that its membership had grown significantly over the previous 15 years to a record 100,000. About 20% percent of the country’s registered nurses and 10% of licensed practical nurses are now union members, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The union victory at Maine Med comes a week after workers at the Portland Museum of Art also successfully organized for the first time in that institution's 139-year-history.