Northern Maine Medical Center in Fort Kent has been cited by the Maine Department of Labor for 77 labor law violations in connection with its treatment of nurses over the past two years.
The citation comes after a complaint made by the Maine State Nurses Association and National Nurses Organizing Committee that represents the nurses at NMMC.
The violations include misclassifying nurses as subcontractors, failing to pay wages in a timely manner, and requiring them to sign contracts that exempt the hospital from Maine’s labor laws.
Registered nurse Brad Martinez said the violations are an example of why the nurses organized a year ago.
"Within the contract the hospital was exempt from paying them overtime pay and that was a distinct violation of Maine labor law," Martinez said.
Martinez said unionizing has allowed them to hold hospital management accountable.
"It's important these be highlighted and publicized. So we can move forward and get a strong first union contract for the safety of all nurses at Northern Maine Medical Center," Martinez said.
The penalties include more than 15,000 in wages for three nurses who were terminated after the hospital misclassified them in contracts that ended without them being rehired. The union said two of the nurses got their jobs back, and while the they received some pay in restitution, are owed more by the hospital.
The labor department will also retrain hospital management on Maine Labor Laws.
