Norwich — The National Labor Relations Board is investigating charges of intimidation and threatening by the union that represents the 350 registered nurses at The William W. Backus Hospital.  

The charges, filed Sept. 21, allege that union “restrained and coerced” the nurses to approve a new contract and quash dissent, Michael Cass, director of the NLRB office in Hartford, said Monday.

While most cases brought to the NLRB are against employers, he said, unions are also the subject of investigations, he said.

“We’re neutral,” he said of the NLRB. “We hear complaints on both sides.”

He expected the agency would conclude its investigation next month.

David Misiasuek, a registered nurse at Backus, said he is the unofficial spokesman for other nurses who are dissatisfied with the union, Local 5149 of AFT Connecticut.

He and others circulated a petition this spring calling for a vote to decertify the union that he said was signed by about one-third of the registered nurses.

The petition, however, was effectively nullified when the union hastily concluded contract negotiations and brought the three-year agreement to a vote.

Labor laws do not allow a decertification vote until the last six months of the existing contract, Misiasuek said.

“I’m not anti-union, but the needs of the nurses are not being met,” he said.

He said the union rushed the contract vote to deliberately undermine the decertification effort.

The resulting contract did not benefit the nurses but was approved because nurses had little time to review and question the proposed agreement before the vote was scheduled, he said.

“They gave everything the hospital requested,” he said. “Almost nothing was gained by the negotiations."

Matt O’Connor, spokesman for AFT, said a resolution of the case is being sought.

“The process of resolving this issue has only recently begun, and it’s too soon to comment publicly on an internal union matter,” he said.

He added that the new contract remains in effect until June 2018.

The case alleging union intimidation is one of two pending with the NLRB against the Backus union.

In a case filed Sept. 15, a nurse claimed that the union failed to take action to ensure that the hospital followed through on an agreement it made with her, Cass said.

The nurse reached an agreement to resign if the hospital provide her with paid sick time and paid vacation time, but alleged that the hospital has not honored the agreement, he said.

Backus nurses voted to unionize and join AFT, which represents the majority of unionized hospital employees statewide, in 2011.

j.benson@theday.com

Twitter: @BensonJudy