Doctors at VA vote on union

Wednesday, May 3, 2000 | 10 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Doctors and nurses will be among the health care officials voting today at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Reno on whether they want to be represented by a union.

The American Federation of Government Employees Local 2152 already represents maintenance, housekeeping and clerical staff at the hospital. If the election is successful, the union would represent doctors, nurses, psychologists, technicians, social workers and other professional staff.

Union President Carol Walton said she believes it would be the first union to represent doctors in Nevada.

But according to Larry Matheis, executive director of the Nevada State Medical Association, two unions in Las Vegas represent physicians and both are affiliated with the AFL-CIO.

The physicians at University Medical Center Quick Care facilities belong to a union and can bargain collectively for wages and benefits. A second union is the Federation of Physicians and Dentists formed by orthopedic surgeons in Las Vegas, Reno and Carson City.

Federal law allows physicians employed by a hospital, clinic or health care organization to engage in collective bargaining, according to Matheis. But the law prohibits private physicians who form a union from taking part in collective bargaining. The union can only negotiate for one private doctor at a time with a hospital or insurance company, he said.

The medical association is seeking a change in the federal law to allow physicians the same rights as others in collective bargaining. The Nevada congressional delegation supports the bill and a vote is expected in the House soon, Matheis said.