🗞️ Nurses at Iowa Long-Term Care Facility Clear Path to Union Vote After Employer's Supervisory Argument Falls Short

On June 5, 2026, the National Labor Relations Board's Region 25 issued a Decision and Direction of Election ordering a union representation vote at Davenport Lutheran Home, a long-term care facility in Davenport, Iowa. The decision, authored by Regional Director Colleen M. Maples, followed a two-day hearing held on February 17 and 18, 2026, in which the employer, Lutheran Home for the Aged Association – East, argued that its approximately 19 Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses are statutory supervisors and therefore ineligible for union representation under the National Labor Relations Act.

The petition was filed on January 28, 2026, by United Food & Commercial Workers Local 431, a Davenport-based union already representing the facility's nonprofessional employees, including Certified Nursing Assistants and Certified Medication Assistants, under a collective-bargaining agreement running through December 1, 2028. The new petition sought to extend union coverage to the nurses as a separate professional bargaining unit. The parties stipulated that RNs and LPNs at the facility constitute professional employees under the Act and that, if found not to be supervisors, the two classifications are appropriately grouped into a single bargaining unit.

The central legal question turned on whether the nurses meet the definition of "supervisor" under Section 2(11) of the NLRA, which requires that an employee exercise independent judgment in at least one of twelve enumerated functions, including the authority to assign, discipline, discharge, reward, responsibly direct, or adjust the grievances of other employees. Under Oakwood Healthcare, Inc., 348 NLRB 686 (2006), the Board's seminal three-part test requires that the supervisory authority be real, exercised with independent judgment, and held in the interest of the employer, not merely routine, clerical, or controlled by policy or contract.

The employer contended that nurses routinely directed CNAs and CMAs, covered staffing gaps by reassigning workers, issued discipline through counseling and progressive discipline forms, sent employees home for misconduct, and informally adjusted employee grievances. Regional Director Maples found each argument wanting. On assignment and transfer, she determined that nurses largely followed schedules prepared by administrative staff and were constrained by seniority rules embedded in the existing collective-bargaining agreement. On discipline, the record showed that only two of the nineteen nurses had ever issued progressive discipline, with both instances occurring just days before the petition was filed, while counseling session forms functioned primarily as reporting tools forwarded to management for final action. The nurses' inability to access employee personnel files further undermined the employer's case. Decisions on discharge rested with the Director of Nursing and, ultimately, with the facility's administration, both of whom conducted their own independent investigations rather than relying on nurse recommendations alone.

The employer's claims on promotion, reward, and grievance adjustment fared no better. Promotions at the facility are largely credentialing-based and require sign-off through two separate layers of management: the Director of Nursing and then the administration. The sole evidence of "rewarding" employees consisted of one nurse who occasionally purchased food for coworkers out of his own pocket, conduct the decision characterized as personal and divorced from the employment relationship. On grievances, testimony established that all formal union grievances bypassed nurses entirely and were processed directly between the union's business agent and the facility administrator, effectively at Step 3 of the contractual procedure rather than at Step 1 where nurses were nominally identified as immediate supervisors.

The ruling is consistent with a line of Board precedent distinguishing between nurses who exercise genuine supervisory discretion and those whose day-to-day authority is largely derivative of regulation, contract, and administrative scheduling. A parallel decision issued earlier this year by a separate NLRB regional director reached a similar conclusion regarding approximately 70 charge nurses at Alameda Healthcare and Wellness Center.

A secret ballot election is scheduled for June 17, 2026, at the facility's Davenport location. Eligible voters are those employed during the payroll period ending May 30, 2026. Either party may file a request for review of the decision with the full Board within ten business days of a final disposition by the Regional Director. Filing a request for review will not automatically stay the election unless the Board specifically orders otherwise.

Key Points

• UFCW Local 431 filed a representation petition on January 28, 2026, seeking to represent approximately 19 RNs and LPNs at Davenport Lutheran Home, a long-term care facility in Davenport, Iowa.
• The employer argued the nurses are statutory supervisors under Section 2(11) of the NLRA and therefore ineligible for inclusion in a bargaining unit; the union argued the employer failed to carry its burden of proof.
• Regional Director Colleen M. Maples found the employer did not establish supervisory authority through specific and detailed evidence on any of the twelve statutory indicia.
• Evidence of discipline was sparse: only two of nineteen nurses had ever issued progressive discipline, and both instances occurred immediately before the petition was filed.
• Nurses lacked access to employee personnel files, could not discharge employees, and were bound by the existing collective-bargaining agreement when adjusting schedules or offering overtime.
• All formal union grievances bypassed the nurses and were handled directly between the union's business agent and the facility administrator, negating the employer's grievance-adjustment argument.
• UFCW Local 431 already represents the facility's nonprofessional employees under a contract running through December 1, 2028, making this petition an extension of an existing union relationship at the same location.
• The ruling aligns with the Board's Oakwood Healthcare framework and a pattern of regional decisions finding long-term care nurses to be non-supervisory employees eligible for union representation.
• A secret ballot election is set for June 17, 2026; either party may seek full Board review of the decision.

Primary Source Author: Colleen M. Maples, Regional Director, NLRB Region 25

Primary Source: Lutheran Home for the Aged Association – East d/b/a Davenport Lutheran Home, Case 25-RC-379991, Decision and Direction of Election (June 5, 2026)

Primary Source Link: NLRB Case 25-RC-379991 — Decision and Direction of Election

Supplemental Links

• NLRB Election Reports
• Oakwood Healthcare, Inc., 348 NLRB 686 (2006) — Summary
• Fisher Phillips: NLRB Rulings on Supervisory Status Post-Oakwood
• NLRB Board Resumes Decisions — Satellite Healthcare, Jan. 2026
• Alameda Healthcare Parallel Charge Nurse Decision, Feb. 2026
• UFCW Local 431 — Davenport, Iowa
• Congressional Research Service: Definition of "Supervisor" Under the NLRA