The state nurses union has been certified as the representative for Maine Medical Center’s nurses.
That certification comes about a month after nurses at Maine’s largest hospital voted 1,001 to 750 to unionize.
The National Labor Relations Board on Monday certified that the hospital’s 2,000 nurses will be represented by Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses United. The hospital did not contest the outcome of the election, according to the union.
“We’ve made history at Maine Med,” said Janel Crowley, a registered nurse at the hospital. “Now we are ready and excited to begin talks with hospital representatives to strengthen our voice for patients, workplace conditions and standards for the caregivers, and for our neighbors and community.”
It was one of the largest successful union drives nationally in recent years, according to the union, and it comes as the state saw its union ranks swell in 2020, with nearly 13,000 more Mainers joining a union and the portion of Maine’s workforce represented by a union rose to nearly 15 percent, the highest level seen in decades.