8^TH Circuit Affirms Hospital Must Fire 14 Nurses Who Refused to Pay Union Dues

St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis must discharge 14 registered nurses who refused to pay union dues in violation of the union-security clause in their bargaining contract, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled Feb. 1 (St. John's Mercy Health Sys. v. NLRB, 8th Cir., No. 05-2306, 2/1/06).

Affirming the National Labor Relations Board's decision in the case, the appeals court rejected the hospital's arguments that discharging the RNs would violate the public policy of Missouri, that Congress intended to treat health care institutions differently than other types of businesses for purposes of federal labor law, and that the discharge order is an improper remedy because the current bargaining contract does not include a union-security clause.

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