Steven Orta is a staff nurse at UIH. In March, he reported a doctor for not following safety protocol after a mistake in the OR. Immediately, Steven was called in for an “investigatory meeting.”

As a steward, he knew to invoke his Weingarten rights and request union representation at this meeting. Management tried to refuse, but Steven insisted. Days later, he was served with a pre-disciplinary packet stating that he and other support staff exhibited “poor judgement” and didn’t follow policy. He faced a 5-day suspension for the frivolous charges.

Steven Orta is a staff nurse at UIH. In March, he reported a doctor for not following safety protocol after a mistake in the OR. Immediately, Steven was called in for an “investigatory meeting.”

As a steward, he knew to invoke his Weingarten rights and request union representation at this meeting. Management tried to refuse, but Steven insisted. Days later, he was served with a pre-disciplinary packet stating that he and other support staff exhibited “poor judgement” and didn’t follow policy. He faced a 5-day suspension for the frivolous charges.

“It seemed like a very unfair and unreasonable situation to put on the nurses and the surgical tech staff when we weren’t the ones that caused all this,” Steven said. “We just didn’t understand how this was our fault and why discipline had to be the answer for all of this.”

Steven showed up ready for his pre-disciplinary hearing, however. First, he read aloud a statement that thoroughly addressed and broke down each of the arguments brought up in the pre-disciplinary packet, leaving no stone unturned. Then he answered a flood of questions from management, all of which he had anticipated ahead of time.

“I was super prepared. I pretty much felt like I humiliated them,” Steven said. “And I told them, ‘I’m prepared to take this all the way to arbitration.’ I was ready to fight, no matter how long it took.”

His threat worked. A few weeks later, he called his INA staff representative and got some good news: all discipline charges were dropped.

Without the union, Steven acknowledges, none of this would be possible.

“I have a really strong community behind my back,” he said. “A community that supports me, can vouch for me. A community that’s willing to fight with me. It’s really reassuring to have so many people standing by my side.”