The run-up to a labor organization vote at a Prime Healthcare hospital in Maine has led to allegations of foul play in the dismissal and suspension of 20 nurses, accusations of a “coordinated corporate campaign” against the health system and calls from the state’s governor for hospital leadership to back down.

Central Maine Medical Center (CMMC), a 250-bed facility in Lewiston, was acquired along with two other hospitals earlier in February by Prime Healthcare Foundation, the company’s nonprofit charity wing. The deal came with a $150 million, five-year commitment toward facility, service and infrastructure investments as the nationwide system sought a required Certificate of Need (CON) from the state.

Reports from over the summer citing current and former employees noted substantial workforce turnover in the months since, which they said was affecting workloads and creating unsafe staffing situations. Meanwhile, nurses at the hospital have been exploring the formation of a union with the Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (MSNA/NNOC). An election on the subject is scheduled for Thursday evening.

In recent days, however, the Maine AFL-CIO, a state federation of labor unions, accused Prime and CMMC of “blatantly illegal” retaliation with several recent firings (14 by the unions’ count, 15 by Prime’s as of Thursday) and suspensions (six per the unions, five per Prime). Maine AFL-CIO said the actions were triggered by the nurses’ patient advocacy and union advocacy. It added that Prime’s alleged retaliation is part of “an aggressive union busting campaign” they said has played out with similar firings and suspensions at other Prime hospitals like Olympia Fields Hospital, Saint Francis Hospital and Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital, all in Illinois, which is similarly a hotbed of union and labor organization activity.

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