‘Put people over profits’: Las Vegas hospital sues union for protest signs on booklet cover

A Las Vegas Valley medical center has sued its nursing and service union to stop it from using photos on member documents that demand the hospital “put people over profits,” according to a complaint.

Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center alleges the SEIU Local 1107 — representing almost 3,300 nurses and other technical and business office employees at the hospital on Maryland Parkway — breached a “mutual respect and commitment” clause described in the union’s collective bargaining agreement that took effect in June 2023.

At issue is the cover of the union’s collective bargaining agreement booklet distributed to members, according to the lawsuit filed on July 10 in the U.S. District Court of Nevada. The front cover shows a collection of union member photos, including two photos of members holding posters that say “HCA Healthcare: put people over profits.” The back cover includes a graphic of a fist and a slogan: “Respect us, pay us, protect us.”

Lawyers and a media representative for the hospital system did not respond to requests for comment by publication time. A representative for the local SEIU declined to comment on Wednesday.

In June, hospital officials requested the union remove the photos from future versions and collect ones already sent out to members. But a union official declined to do so, saying the group “saw no difference” between a previous cover with similar signs featured in a half-page photo, according to court records.

Hospital officials said they believe the breach could cause “irreparable harm” to its reputation and commitment to care, lawyers wrote in the complaint.

Sunrise seeks a preliminary injunction to stop the union from circulating its collective bargaining agreement and collect and destroy the existing ones.

Contact McKenna Ross at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on X.