A local labor-relations expert tells us Forum Health's request for "relief" from its union contracts is not usual.
YSU Working Class Studies professor John Russo says it's important to keep in mind tentative agreements are just that -- tentative -- and are subject to ratification votes by both the union and management.
But he still believes relying on a federal judge to abrogate contracts violates the collective bargaining process. Russo says, "Increasingly, any negotiation is now a three-way negotiation," between management, labor and creditors.
Russo thinks Forum administrators are trying to do what they can to keep the hospital system viable in the eyes of their creditors, even if that means obtaining further concessions from its workers.
