PORTLAND (AP) — Efforts have started to unionize nurses at Portland’s Maine Medical Center.

Meetings have been held to discuss the issue, although it doesn’t appear that a vote on whether to form a union has been scheduled.

Vanessa Sylvester, bargaining coordinator with the Maine State Nurses Association, said the union has a “long relationship with registered nurses” at Maine Medical Center but did not specifically address unionization efforts.

If approved, a union could represent about 1,700 hospital employees.

Judith West, senior vice president and chief human resources officer for Maine Medical Center and its parent company, MaineHealth, told The Portland Press Herald (http://bit.ly/1bUDccv ) that a union is not necessary because the “the collective voice of our nurses is strong, clear, and understood.”