1. CASE STUDY
St. John’s Crafts Strategy with Projections’ Unique Resources
“Everything went great - your staff is wonderful to work with and
we are very pleased with the service they have been providing.
Everyone from St. John’s was very impressed and I think it is all
coming together really nicely. We’ll see - the true test will be on
August 11th when they count the ballots.”
-Attorney
Executive Summary Organization
For years, the nurses at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in St. St. John’s Mercy Medical
Louis had been represented by the United Food and Commercial Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Workers’ union (UFCW). But, dissatisfied with the proceedings of
the ongoing bargaining session, a group of those nurses made
the decision to stop paying dues. Their decision was backed by Solution Implmented
management, but the union insisted that those nurses who did not Series of 3 fully custom
pay dues be fired. videos, custom employee-
centric website
Negotiations continued, but then after a strike was called, the
UFCW lost interest in the nurses at St. John’s and invited a
Benefits
union they called their new “partner,” the Service Employees
• Communication Clarity in an
International Union (SEIU) to take over representation of the
otherwise confusing situation
nurses. In the end, the contract included a clause that allowed St.
John’s nurses to decide if they wanted to pay dues, allowing the
• Consistent information
nurses who were forcibly fired at the insistence of the union to
provided to all employees
come back to work. With continuing dissatisfaction, some of the
nurses of St. John’s then filed with the National Labor Relations
• Just-in-time delivery of
Board to hold a vote to decertify the UFCW altogether.
information
To make matters worse, the California Nurses Association (CNA)
• Ability to reach the families
then threw their hat in the ring to be included as a possible
of employees to assist in the
representative of the nurses on the ballot. At this point, the ballot
decision-making process
would include 4 options: Representation by the UFCW, the SEIU,
the CNA, or no union at all.
About St. John’s Mercy Medical Center
St. John’s Mercy has been known for comprehensive family
medical care, medical education, research, community services,
and dedication to the Mercy values of compassion and caring for
all members of the community since 1871. Today, the Medical
Center comprises nearly 80 acres and includes an 859-bed, fully
accredited teaching hospital; a Heart Hospital; a Cancer Center;
dedicated inpatient women’s health services; comprehensive
Children’s Hospital, the only pediatric intensive care unit in St.
Louis County; a Surgery Center that provides inpatient and
www.projectionsinc.com
outpatient surgical services; and a 120-bed Skilled Nursing Center.

2. CASE STUDY
St. John’s Crafts Strategy with Projections’ Unique Resources
Creating Calm in a Chaotic Situation
Projections worked with St. John’s attorneys on an effective
communication strategy. Projections was to create a custom video
that was to be deployed at weekly intervals via the internet. The
custom-created website would not only feature the videos, but
would also be a timed-release comprehensive resource for nurses
to learn about the 3 different unions and the possibilty of becoming
union-free. The video would then be sent, in its entirety, to the Projections
homes prior to the NLRB election.
Projections is arguably the
foremost provider of employee
Strategic Communication Reached Employees & Families
communication resources to
Toward the end of the campaign period, testimonials from St.
North American companies.
John’s nurses as well as an emotional appeal from the President
of the hospital were added to the video to be sent to the homes.
With capabilities ranging from
Because St. John’s understood that family members play an
custom video to websites
important role in the decisions their employees make, the
and interactive eLearning,
hospital’s management felt it was vital that the information reach
Projections has been serving
the homes of employees as well.
the communication needs of
companies large and small
Then, to add to the challenge of clear communication during
since 1979 by providing all
this overwhelming time, the CNA decided they were no longer
services from consulting
interested in representing St. John’s nurses and withdrew from
to scriptwriting, producing,
the election. Projections worked closely with both client and
editing, graphic design and
attorney to quickly update the website, as well as to craft a 3rd
more in-house.
video resource that would be shown to employees in small
group meetings prior to the election. These meetings included
Over the last 30 years,
discussions about hospitals who had been on strike over the last
Projections has crafted the
several years, including their own strike, and allowed the nurses to
right message in the right
ask questions of their managers.
medium for thousands of
corporations and millions of
Final Vote Led to A Union-Free Environment
employees.
In the end, St. John’s nurses decided they were better off
communicating directly with managment regarding pay, benefits
and working conditions. Of the 1,713 votes cast, 1,026 were votes
to become union-free. In a joint statement, Denny DeNarvaez,
President Chief Executive Officer, and Chris Crain, RN, Vice
President and Chief Nurse Executive, said, “We appreciate the
support of our registered nurses, and look forward to working
again directly with them. We need all of our nurses, physicians and
other patient caregivers, along with our many co-workers behind
the scenes, working together to continue the tradition of quality
care for our patients.”
www.projectionsinc.com