🗞️ Labor Board Orders Riverside Hospital to Bargain With Nurses' Union
The NLRB ordered Riverside Community Hospital to bargain with SEIU Local 121 RN, rejecting the hospital's argument that a group of specialized nurse coordinators are managerial employees excluded from union representation.
The National Labor Relations Board has ordered Riverside Healthcare System, L.P., doing business as Riverside Community Hospital, to recognize and bargain with the Service Employees International Union, Local 121 RN. The order resolves a dispute dating to June 2024, when the hospital declined the union's request to bargain following its certification as the representative of a small group of specialized registered nurse positions.
Those positions, including trauma registry and sepsis coordinator roles, joined Riverside's existing nurse bargaining unit after an election held in May 2024 in which the affected nurses voted on the question. The hospital contended that the nurses in these roles are managerial or supervisory employees and therefore fall outside the protections of the National Labor Relations Act, an argument it had already raised, and lost, during the earlier proceeding that led to certification. Because the hospital did not present new evidence or identify special circumstances, the Board found the issue could not be reconsidered, citing the long standing principle from Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. v. NLRB that representation disputes already litigated cannot be revisited in a later unfair labor practice case. This procedural path, in which an employer declines to bargain in order to obtain judicial review of a certification it disputes, is a recognized feature of federal labor law.
The Board, composed of Chairman James Murphy and Members David Prouty and Scott Mayer, also considered and rejected a series of constitutional arguments raised by the hospital, including claims involving the removal protections afforded to Board members and administrative law judges, the structure of the agency, and the right to a jury trial under the Seventh Amendment. The panel found these arguments unsupported, noting that the hospital had not shown any actual harm from the removal protections it challenged, and pointed to longstanding Supreme Court precedent holding that labor disputes involve public rights that Congress may assign to administrative adjudication. Separately, the Board declined the General Counsel's request to extend the union's one year certification period, noting that such an extension is not available where, as here, the underlying vote was one in which employees themselves decided whether to join an existing unit, rather than a first time organizing election.
Under the order, Riverside must bargain with the union on request and post notices to employees, both physically and electronically, describing their rights under federal labor law.
Key Points
- The NLRB granted summary judgment against Riverside Community Hospital for refusing to bargain with SEIU Local 121 RN following the union's June 2024 certification.
- The hospital's central argument, that certain RN coordinator roles are managerial or supervisory and therefore excluded from the Act, had already been raised and rejected in the earlier representation proceeding.
- Under the rule from Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. v. NLRB, employers cannot relitigate representation issues in a later unfair labor practice case without new evidence or special circumstances.
- The Board rejected the hospital's constitutional challenges concerning removal protections for Board members and administrative law judges, finding no demonstrated harm.
- The Board also rejected an argument that its adjudication process violates the Seventh Amendment, citing longstanding Supreme Court precedent on public rights.
- The Board declined to extend the union's certification period, since that remedy does not apply when the underlying vote was one in which employees decided whether to join an existing unit.
- Riverside must bargain on request with the union and post notices at its Riverside, California facility, including through electronic means.
Primary Source Author: National Labor Relations Board (Chairman James R. Murphy and Members David M. Prouty and Scott A. Mayer)
Primary Source: Riverside Healthcare System, L.P., doing business as Riverside Community Hospital, 374 NLRB No. 139 (July 2, 2026)
Primary Source Link: nlrb.gov/case/21-CA-347056
