The Chronicle THURSDAY. MAY 18. 2000
CIRCULATION 9,000
WWW.CHRONICLE.DUKE.EDU
THE INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY
VOL. 96, NO. S1
Union reps accuse Duke of unfair labor practices By MARKO DJUKANOVIC
LLEGATI
The Chronicle
Late last week, the International Union ofOperating Engineers, which has been attempting for more than a month to organize over 2,000 nurses at the Health System’s main campus, filed two charges that Duke Hospital’s management has engaged in unfair labor practices. The first of the charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board alleges that administrators solicited grievances only weeks before the union vote in order to discourage union activity and undermine union support.
DREW KLEIN/THE CHRONICLE
Away they g0... For this University graduate and thousands of her colleagues, commencement weekend represented a time for reflection and celebration.
The second alleges that hospital management increased benefits intending similar results. Union organizers said hospital officials discontinued mandatory overtime and on-call duty in many departments and also implemented a 2 percent salary raise on top of the annual increases. Such activities are illegal because they undermine the union’s support by placating the employees into believing these promises will be kept. The labor charges could bring serious consequences for the hospital; if the NLRB finds the allegations were serious enough, the board could immediately approve the nurses’ union without a vote. On the other hand, ifthe NLRB finds the charges to be false and harmful to the Hospital’s position, it could force a second unionization vote to be held. “Based on the information that comes to me and my knowledge of what I feel is a violation under the act, there
The International Union of Operating engineers filed these charges against Duke Hospital:
� Administrators solicited grievances only weeks before the union vote to discourage union activity and undermine union support For similar reasons, hospital management increased benefits, discontinued mandatory overtime and on-call duty in many departments and implemented a 2 percent salary raise on top of annual increases.
violations,” said lUOE spokesperson David Miller. He said a third charge was filed Monday and added that more charges will be filed later, but refused to comment further. But Chief Nursing Officer Mary Ann Crouch noted that there is a difference between the management doing its job and committing unfair have been
labor practices.
“As chief nurse, since last summer my priorities have been to address the staff’s issues,” she said. ‘These changes are the product of that commitment.” Crouch said she feels hospital management is stuck in a catch-22. If it continues working with the staff to address their concerns, there will be accusations of unfair labor practices. If it does nothing, the union points to officials’ inability to address the issues at hand. The union still plans to hold the nurses’ unionization vote June 2 and 3. “We want to make sure we have a fair election and that’s why we’re doing See UNION on page 21 >■
Stanford official will succeed Adams Religion scholar, As vice president, Sally Dickson will lead the Office of Institutional Equity teacher dies at 75 By JAIME LEVY The Chronicle
After a year-long national search, Sally Dickson of Stanford University has been named the University’s next vice president for institutional equity, President Nan Keohane announced late last week Dickson, currently the director of campus relations at Stanford, will take office when vice president Myma Adams steps down June 30. At Stanford, Dickson oversees five offices, including the Sexual Harassment Policy Office and the Office for Multicultural Development, which has jurisdiction over compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Office of Institutional Equity at Duke, created by Keohane in 1995, is re- Sally Dickson sponsible for monitoring race- and genderbased harassment, improving workplace culture and ensuring ADA compliance. “One of the things I am excited about and that attracted me to Duke is the level of commitment to issues of diversity that just seem to be a part of the Duke fabric,” said Dickson, who was chosen from a pool of more than 70 applicants. Dickson emphasized the importance of ensuring that OIE, its mission and its goals are a visible and long-lasting part of University life.
“When we talk about the issue of diversity, it is a continuum. It is not something you can do for one month, one year, two years, three years and say, ‘OK, it’s done...,”’ said the New York City native. Under Adams, OlE’s structure was heavily criticized for being too disjointed, but Dickson acknowledged decentralization as a dilemma inherent in OlE’s purpose. “That is a huge tax on one office...,” said Dickson, who earned her law degree at Rutgers University. “You want to make sure we can deliver all the services to this huge
community.” Although Dickson has not given thought to any specific changes she will make to OIE, she said she is developing a general vision for the office. “I’d really like to look at creating a Duke community that not only respects differences but also [one where! people can recognize similarities, things we have in common—trying to bring the health system and campus to feel like part of one universe,” she said. Among its new services and priorities, said Keohane,
OIE under Dickson will work to provide more opportunities for minority employees to gain training and responsibility, help managers across Duke to provide sensitive and effective leadership and improve the campus
Attorney General Reno speaks, page
See
By GREG PESSIN The Chronicle
Emeritus Professor of Religion C. Eric Lincoln, a noted scholar, beloved father and husband and avid fisherman, died Sunday. He was 75 Lincoln, who spent much of his work and free time writing, co-authored The Black Church in the
African-Ametican
Experi-
ence, the definitive book on
the black church in American life, and penned several hymns “He’s a man that pretty much devoted his life to the understanding of race Eric Lined relations here and abroad, most of that being the desire to understand why his situation was what it was,” said his son, Less Lincoln. “He loved to teach. He absolutely loved it. Even in his quieter days lately, he would light up at having a conversation over dinner.” See LINCOLN on page 20 �
DICKSON on page 22 P-
8 Summer Recess
goes to the movies, page
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