The SLRMC case was returned to the local NLRB, based in Denver, to have that interpretation applied to the facts of the Utah case. And two weeks ago, the board ruled that charge nurses at the hospital are supervisors and their ballots — which had been segregated because of the controversy at the time of the vote — could not be counted.

Nurses who sometimes serve as charge nurses cast more than one-third of the 153 votes in June 2002.

Martin said the NLRB ruling "puts everybody at risk of being characterized as a supervisor, without either the benefits or rights you would get as a supervisor."

She said the union decided it was against everyone's interest to let the election go forward "in the current climate with its wild and bizarre interpretation of the rule where everyone can be a supervisor."

Gay, former union-organizer spokesman for the Salt Lake nurses, was fired from the hospital last week, but company policy forbids discussing personnel issues, Boudreaux said.

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E-mail: lois@desnews.com