Patrick Howington, Louisville Courier-Journal, March 13, 2009 The Nurses Professional Organization, which has been trying to unionize nurses at Norton Audubon Hospital for 20 years, has withdrawn its petition for a union election at the Louisville hospital. The Cincinnati-based regional director of the National Labor Relations Board approved the withdrawal of the union’s petition yesterday. That closed the books on an NLRB case dating back to 1994, when the union lost an election at Audubon for the second time since it started organizing there in 1989. The NLRB later overturned the election results, saying tactics by the hospital’s owner at the time, Columbia/HCA ... Nurses

Business First of Louisville, March 13, 2009 A lengthy union battle to organize nurses at Louisville’s Norton Audubon Hospital on Poplar Level Road has come to a halt. On Thursday, the National Labor Relations Board approved a request on behalf of the Nurses Professional Organization to withdraw a petition for an election, according to a press release from Norton Healthcare Inc. “This concludes a process that began with the original nurses union election at Norton Audubon in March 1994,” the statement said. ... Nurses

James Parks, AFL-CIO, December 24, 2007 Striking nurses in West
Virginia and Kentucky yesterday approved a new tentative agreement that
could send them back to work soon. Nearly 700 members of the United
American Nurses (UAN) union have been on strike at nine Appalachian
Regional Healthcare (ARH) hospitals since October 1. The UAN members
are seeking a contract with safer staffing levels and higher patient
care standards. The nurses are concerned that management’s staffing
decisions and rampant mandatory overtime are preventing them from
giving patients the best possible care. ... Striking

Jillian Ogawa, Lexington Herald-Leader, December 23, 2007 Nurses who
had been on strike for nearly three months ratified a new contract with
employer Appalachian Regional Healthcare. “This three-month long strike
has been tough on everybody, and we’re anxious to get back to work,”
said Pat Tanner, chief negotiator for the Kentucky and West Virginia
nurses associations. “And to help ARH rebuild and ... to bring the
patients and communities that we care about back to the safe, quality
patient care.” Voting occurred Friday and Saturday at the nine ARH
hospitals in Kentucky and West Virginia, and the latest round of
negotiations occurred over eight days in Lexington, Tanner said. ... Appalachian

United American Nurses, AFL-CIO, December 21, 2007 Negotiating team
members for nurses at Appalachian Regional Health Care, represented by
the Kentucky and West Virginia Nurses Associations/UAN, have reached a
tentative agreement on a contract and back-to-work settlement with ARH.
Members will vote on the contract this weekend; details of the contract
will be available after the vote. © 2006 The United American Nurses.
All Rights Reserved.

Associated Press, December 8, 2007 Frankfort - Striking nurses at nine
Appalachian hospitals say they're willing to return to work for 90 days
while negotiators draft a new contract under a proposal put forth by
Kentucky Gov.-elect Steve Beshear and West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin on
Thursday. Chief union negotiator Pat Tanner said local union presidents
unanimously voted to accept the proposal. ... ARH

WYMT, December 6, 2007 It is a big win for ARH nurses in a two year old
fight over pay issues. A federal appeals court ruled Appalachian
Regional Healthcare will have to pay millions in back pay to nurses.
The dispute started back in 2005, long before the strike, but nurses on
the picket line in Hazard say the decision renews their energy to fight
for what they believe is right. "It was wonderful, it was great," said
Kim Hurt with the Kentucky Nurses Association. If the federal appeals
court decision stands, hundreds of registered nurses, like Kim Hurt,
will receive more than three and a half million dollars in back pay
from ARH. ... Judge

Associated Press, December 4, 2007 Louisville - Nurses at nine
hospitals in eastern Kentucky and West Virginia will remain on strike
after voting 455-5 Tuesday night to reject a contract offer. The nurses
working for Appalachian Regional Healthcare walked off the job Oct. 1.
Chief union negotiator Pat Tanner said the company's latest offer was
"not enough." Company spokeswoman Candace Elkins said the company
hadn't received official word from the union that the offer made Friday
had been rejected. ... Striking

James Parks, AFL-CIO Weblog, November 29, 2007 Nurses from coast to
coast rallied today in Lexington, Ky., to show support for strikers at
Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH). With the strike soon entering
its third month, the financial resources of the picketers are running
low, but their resolve is strong. Rue Hairston, a nurse for 31 years at
ARH’s hospital in Beckley, W.Va., says the strikers are not yet in dire
straits because of the generous help they’ve received from their
brothers and sisters in the union movement. But if they are unable to
get a contract soon, many nurses could face tough times ... Nation

Doug Cunningham, Workers Independent News, November 28, 2007 AFL-CIO
Vice-President Arlene Holt Baker is joining striking Kentucky nurses
today and she won't show up empty handed. She’s bringing a $20,000
check from the AFL-CIO to help provide emergency financial support for
the hundreds of nurses striking Appalachian Regional Healthcare. The
nurses in Kentucky and West Virginia have been on strike since October
1st against seven hospitals over staffing and patient care issues. The
nurses want higher staffing levels maintained and higher patient care
standards. Holt Baker will join the nurses in Lexington, Kentucky today
to present the AFL-CIO check of support.

Nurses in Kentucky and West Virginia have been on strike for nearly a
month. They need you to take action today to help end their
strike against the Appalachian Regional Health System! ... Take Action

Associated Press, November 16, 2007 Harlan - Jerry Blevins has stood
for weeks on a picket line with his fellow nurses, thinking about his
mortgage, his tearful wife, his four children. Pam Pace has been called
names and listed on the ''wall of shame'' posted outside her hospital
for crossing the picket line and continuing to work. Last week, her
tires were slashed. ... It's been a stressful seven weeks for the 750
registered nurses at Appalachian Regional Healthcare, the region's
largest hospital system, which has nine facilities in eastern Kentucky
and West Virginia. Six hundred nurses have refused to cross the picket
line. ... Nurses

Louisville Courier-Journal, November 14, 2007 A group of nurses held a
news conference yesterday to urge support for a union drive at Norton
Audubon Hospital. "We need to have a union so we can give better care
to our patients," Audubon nurse Ann Hurst said in an interview. The
news conference was held at Floyd Street and Broadway outside Norton
Healthcare's downtown medical complex. The National Labor Relations
Board plans to hold an election at Audubon soon so nurses can decide if
the Nurses Professional Organization will represent them. The board
hasn't set a date. ... Nurses

Medical News Today, November 13, 2007 Three Registered Nurses from
Norton Audobon Hospital have won $171,000 in back pay from Norton
Audobon Hospital in a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision.
The nurses were illegally fired by Norton Audobon for advocating for
better care for their patients and for RNs at the hospital to organize
with Nurses Professional Organization (NPO), a Kentucky-based union of
Registered Nurses that is affiliated with the National Nurses
Organizing Committee (NNOC). ... Norton

Marie Luby, WKYT-TV, November 13, 2007 Kentucky and West Virginia
nurses on strike say the dispute with Appalachian Regional Healthcare
is about unfair labor practices, but hospital officials insist it's
about money. We explain the difference between the two and what it
means for nursing jobs at ARH hospitals. The National Labor Relations
Board, or NLRB, defines an economic strike as one involving issues like
wages, hours, and working conditions. ... National