Robert F. Millman

Millman has almost 45 years of experience, representing employers before the National Labor Relations Board and in employment discrimination and wrongful termination litigation. He also represents clients in arbitration, mediation and collective bargaining negotiations.

For Dallas-based client Tenet Healthcare Corp., the parent of one of the largest for-profit acute care hospital chains in the U.S., Millman is working to ratify 14 labor agreements with the California Nurses Association across the U.S. Negotiations have so far spanned more than six months.

"Eight of the hospitals involved are in California, each with its own separate labor agreement," he said. "Plus there's a master agreement." Negotiating separate hospital contracts simultaneously with a master contract is extremely complex and demanding, he added.

"It's a rather daunting project, but it's moving ahead appropriately. The unions have been very aggressive. The CNA is very concerned about the staffing issues they have in their hospitals, and it comes down to staffing ratios. It can be one to one, nurses to patients, in the ICU and four to one elsewhere. Then there are concerns about emergencies, like a Code Blue. From the perspective of the RNs and the hospital, staffing is complex."

Part of Millman's success stems from his deep understanding of both sides of a labor standoff. "RNs are the guts of a hospital," he said. "It's like running a firehouse or a police station; it's a matter of working together. I have a reputation for knowing how to play it both ways. Sometimes you go to war; sometimes you make peace. In my view, you do get more out of the sugar approach than you do with vinegar. We don't sit there throwing four-letter words. There's no finger pointing. We do it respectfully."

Following school nutrition supplier Gold Star Foods Inc.'s 2017 acquisition of Anaheim-based A&R Wholesale Distributors Inc., the company retained Millman to negotiate as its drivers were being organized by Teamsters Local 63. Numerous unfair labor practice claims were pending before the National Labor Relations Board. Millman orchestrated a complete resolution of the labor dispute. More recently he assisted the company with recognition of Teamster Local 315 for the company's drivers in Dixon. Millman said it was essential the company have a peaceful and successful relationship with organized labor.

"Traditional labor lawyers like me are rarely recognized," Millman said. "Collective bargaining agreements aren't sexy, notorious cases, but they are an integral part of California, where organized labor wields a tremendous amount of power. It takes a certain skill, and I think I've got it. I know how to get to the end zone."

-- John Roemer