William L. Jackson, Jr.

, MD, MBA – President/CEO June 10, 2020

Jan Keys, DNP, RN FACHE – Senior Vice President/CNE
Jim Bolton, MD – Chief of Staff
Chris Young, MD – Vice Chief of Staff
Chris Poole, MD – Secretary of Medical Staff
Jay Sizemore, MD – Past Chief of Staff
Angela Basham-Saif – Associate Chief Nursing Officer

Erlanger Administration:

Due to recent administrative decisions that the majority of the nursing staff feel were made without
taking our rights into consideration, which has created an environment where employees are working in
fear and intimidation for their jobs, and which has created a hardship for us to do our jobs safely and
efficiently, I have begun talking with employees about starting a union at Erlanger. Nurses advocate for
our patients, but we now need someone to advocate for us. In recent months, our promised benefits
have been denied us, we have been burdened with unsafe nurse/patient ratios, and nursing staff
members have been wrongfully terminated. Many other nurses and techs have resigned to go find jobs
elsewhere due to their feeling unvalued by Erlanger Administration.

We need excellent nurses to keep Erlanger’s patient care at the same quality it has been for years, but
the last several months Erlanger has eliminated many skilled, experienced nurses who have loyally
devoted themselves to Erlanger for many years; seasoned nurses who were necessary to help train
newer nurses at a teaching hospital. Erlanger has quickly become a hospital with a high nurse
turnaround rate with a majority of floor nurses being newer to the field. The fact that Administration
shows no concern about this is alarming. New nurses can become excellent, experienced nurses over
time provided they have adequate mentorship.

We cannot afford to lose any more nurses, techs or other medical staff. The Covid-19 crisis has been
hard on everyone, and stress levels and senses of being overwhelmed are at an all-time high. However,
Administration has not taken that into consideration in the treatment of its employees (before using
termination as an initial course of action against nurses who have excellent work records, for example.)

Many of the Erlanger medical and nursing staff feel that we no longer have a voice. Concerns and
complaints are met with bureaucratic responses with no solutions or even a hint that our concerns are
being taken into consideration at all. Very little has been done in regards to any of the issues brought to
administration’s attention. The blame for all problems is nearly always casually deflected back onto the
ones raising the concerns.

All decisions made in the last several months seem to be concerned only with making/saving money
(even if it’s at the expense of those working on the frontlines) and lording control over the staff, creating
a hostile work environment for those of us who are just trying to be able to do our jobs.

We mainly need the proper staff to provide excellent patient care effectively and safely, and the more
we ask for it, the more administration terminates (or runs off) more staff, making it worse. This has
become a vicious cycle that has to end.
Erlanger has created the textbook scenario to necessitate unionization over the past several months.
Therefore, many of us feel that there is no other option than to form a union that will strive to make
Erlanger a workplace where we can do our jobs without feeling threatened. We need a union to fight
for the benefits that we were promised upon being hired and to keep administration from constantly
making decisions that impacts staff without staff having any say in the matter.

I am invoking my rights under the National Labor Relations Act, and I have begun talking to employees
about starting a union at Erlanger without fear of threats or retaliation. I have also contacted union
organizers to help in this process. Any other employees that discuss unionization, who are in favor of a
union, or who participate in concerted activities to form a union are also protected by the NLRA.

Our initial concerted activities will be in an effort to have our benefits returned, to establish a due
process for employees being disciplined (or terminated), to demand the reinstatement of seasoned
nurses who have recently been terminated unfairly (in order to send a message of hostility to your
employees), and to decrease patient to nurse ratios. The means that we will use will consist of written
requests, petitions, public picketing, and news media.

Administration needs to recognize that there have been unfair terminations recently (in multiple units)
which have created a hostile work environment and has actually served as the main catalyst for
employees to begin discussing unionization. Many of these terminated nurses were well known and
respected throughout our Erlanger family, and it has really decreased employee morale. The extreme
disciplinary actions that was chosen, (to abruptly terminate staff for minor infractions,) sends a message
to employees that we are working in a threatening and fear-driven environment and that administration
is making harsh, emotional (not professional) decisions in order to keep the environment a hostile one.
There are many other issues also in play, but these recent terminations have been the breaking point for
many employees and have validated the necessity for a Union.

We ask Erlanger Administration, in good faith, to comply with the following requests in order to extend
an olive branch to the employees and indicate that you actually value us and that you are willing to
begin listening to us and seriously take our concerns under consideration:

1. Return our earned benefits (PTO, matched retirement, incentive pay) immediately.
2. Reevaluate the experience and track records of any nurses and techs who were terminated
during this calendar year. Take into consideration the additional stress and burdens placed on
them during the Covid-19 crisis, and consider reinstating as many as possible in order to give us
back the experienced staff numbers we need.

This letter will also be circulated among Erlanger employees in discussions of unionization.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey S. Holland, LPN – NW8

Erlanger Union Advocate