Dec 20, 2012 1 min read

PITTSBURGH – The National Labor Relations Board says officials at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center have tried to intimidate service and maintenance workers from unionizing by implicitly threatening to fire them or otherwise retaliating against organizers.

UPMC officials deny any wrongdoing and say in a written statement they “look forward to this opportunity to tell our side of the story” when an administrative law judge hears the complaint Feb. 5.

Among other things, the NLRB wants the hospital network – the state’s largest private employer with about 56,000 workers – to repay any employees allegedly suspended for union activities and to reinstate those who the NLRB alleges were fired for union activity.

The NLRB complaint is based on allegations leveled by SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, which has been trying to organize workers at several hospitals for months.