Shifting excuses by NLRB Regional Director and union blocking election for Spectrum Health Systems nurses run contrary to Board rulings

Washington, DC (November 10, 2026) – Spectrum Health Systems nurse Julie Reno filed a Request for Review with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington, D.C., asking the Board to overturn a Regional Director’s decision holding her petition for a union decertification vote in indefinite “abeyance.” Reno is receiving free legal representation from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.

Reno filed her petition with NLRB Region 1 in Boston in early May, asking for a secret-ballot vote on whether she and her fellow nurses wish to remove AFSCME Local 93 as their monopoly bargaining “representative.” Six months later, no vote has been scheduled, as AFSCME union lawyers and Regional Board officials have provided a series of shifting excuses for not holding the vote.

When First Excuse for Blocking Vote Failed, Region Pivoted to Unconnected ‘Blocking Charge’

AFSCME union officials first claimed a so-called “contract bar” prevented an election. The Regional Director ordered the parties to brief that question, and Reno and Spectrum Health both argued that union officials had failed to produce any agreement with definite start and end dates — an NLRB requirement for a union contract to block a vote. In August, the Board in Washington, D.C. issued two decisions, SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital and Republic National Distributing Company, both reaffirming that a contract’s effective and termination dates must be clear from the face of the document in order for it to bar any employee-requested election.

Once it became clear the non-statutory “contract bar” did not apply, the Region abruptly pivoted to a new reason to deny the nurses of a vote. The Region suddenly issued an October 9 letter blocking the election based on two alleged unfair labor practice charges AFSCME filed against Spectrum Health roughly eight months ago.

The Request for Review notes these unproven charges could not have impacted employee dissatisfaction with AFSCME, and that the Region failed to conduct the required Saint Gobain hearing or Master Slack analysis to show the union claims could have contributed in any way to employee opposition to the union.

Reno’s filing notes that the union-alleged charges depend on the existence of the same disputed agreement at the heart of the unresolved “contract bar” claim. Further, one charge accuses the employer of cutting nurses’ bonuses and pay differentials — conduct that, if true, could only have turned nurses against management, not against the union.

Reno’s Request for Review argues that the NLRB’s “blocking charge” policy conflicts with Section 9(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, which states that when a question of representation exists, the Board “shall direct an election.” Her attorneys also argue that the Board’s 2024 rescission of the Election Protection Rule — which required elections to proceed despite pending union charges — was arbitrary and unlawful.

The filing cites NLRB Member Mayer’s September 30 concurrence in Everon, LLC, which criticized a blocking letter for failing to explain which allegations justified halting a vote, and stated he “would be willing to reconsider this issue in a future appropriate case.” Reno’s filing argues her case is that vehicle for the NLRB to address these important issues.

“Despite the National Labor Relations Act’s mandate to protect worker free choice, time and time again NLRB officials act as if their mission is to protect incumbent union officials against the wishes of the very workers those officials claim to ‘represent,’” said National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Cases like this show the need for serious reform to protect workers’ right to free themselves from union so-called representation they oppose.

“If the Trump NLRB is serious about restoring workers’ freedoms, it can start by ordering the Region to simply and quickly let Ms. Reno and her coworkers vote,” added Mix. “But ultimately, the Board must recognize that the blocking charge policy the Biden NLRB revived contradicts federal law, and the solution includes reinstating the Election Protection Rule previously adopted during the first Trump administration.”

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in about 200 cases nationwide per year.