Your Union is in Macon, Georgia and a member of the AFL-CIO. It is Local #375 and represents mostly Housekeeping, Dietary, and Maintenance employees at two hospitals in the area. Today, your organizing team is meeting because one of your best Business Agents has indicated that some Nurses at another hospital have approached her about seeking representation for their Nurse and Nursing Assistants. This is a 75 bed hospital in Macon with 150 total employees (approximately 95 of those could be represented in a bargaining unit). The Business Agent is generally very reliable in this information plus your union already represents a hospital near Atlanta but only the housekeeping and food staff. The Agent is not sure of the seriousness of the interest but believes it may be worth pursuing. Unfortunately, the Union’s organizing budget may not be sufficient to undertake an organizing campaign now and its last two organizing campaigns were unsuccessful.
What steps could the Union take to determine whether this campaign is worth pursuing? How would the Union engage these Nurses on site to determine the feasibility of forming a Union in this hospital? How many authorization cards would be required of the union before it believes the case can move forward?