Victory is in sight for thousands of Kaiser workers who have been organizing to join NUHW for more than 18 months. The federal government has scheduled a government-protected election for 44,000 Kaiser employees to vote to join NUHW and kick out SEIU. [Leaflet] [Full story]

Hundreds of registered nurses at Kaiser Los Angeles Medical Center marched outside the hospital on Tuesday to share their concerns over patient and RN safety at Kaiser Permanente’s flagship Southern California facility. [Full story]

In a landslide election result, nearly 600 workers at Providence Tarzana Medical Center won their election to join NUHW by a vote of 282 (NUHW) to 69 (SEIU).

“We’re thrilled to have won this election and put our union back under members’ control,” said Julie Sidrow-Thompson, a monitor tech at the hospital. “For a year and a half, SEIU has stood in our way and left us without a voice. Now that we’re united again in NUHW, we’ll have the strength we need to stand up for our patients and ourselves.”

Within days, the National Labor Relations Board could set a date for 45,000 Kaiser Permanente workers to make the switch in the biggest private sector union election since the 1940s. All of these workers are part of a mass exodus of SEIU members who have made NUHW the fastest-growing union in California.

On a conference call held Wednesday by the National Labor Relations Board, the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) won an agreement that ensures workers’ right to vote by mail in the privacy of their homes, in a government-protected election to join NUHW.

Up to this point, SEIU had insisted that Kaiser workers be forced to vote in the workplace, where managers and SEIU staff have tried to keep them from hearing both sides.

As a result of this agreement, 44,000 Kaiser workers will be able to vote to join NUHW in the privacy and security of their own homes. Their secret ballots will then be counted by the federal government. Kaiser will be required to recognize the union that Kaiser workers choose.

“The decision we have to make is too important to let SEIU and Kaiser managers make it for us,” said Delores Jones, a medical assistant at Kaiser Stockton. “We have the right to have all the information and vote for the union that gives us the strongest voice for our patients and ourselves.”

Nearly 600 caregivers at Providence Tarzana Medical Center voted yesterday to join NUHW. Although SEIU delayed the ballot count by asking the labor board to review an earlier decision, an absolute majority of Providence Tarzana workers signed a public statement pledging their votes for NUHW.

“We’ve taken back our union,” said Julie Sidrow-Thompson, a monitor tech at the hospital. “For a year and a half, SEIU has stood in our way and left us without a voice. Now that we’re united again in NUHW, we have the strength we need to stand up for our patients and ourselves.”

Providence is the second Catholic hospital system where workers have organized with NUHW, after St. Joseph Health System. Starting today, the 13,000 caregivers at Catholic Healthcare West—the largest non-profit healthcare provider in California—are collecting signatures to call for their own election to join NUHW once they are eligible to change unions next year. [Full story]

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United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta stands with Kaiser workers filing their petition to join NUHW.Kaiser workers filed a petition today that will trigger elections for 45,000 SEIU members to choose between the troubled incumbent and the state’s fastest-growing union, NUHW.

“We worked for decades to make Kaiser jobs good, stable jobs that paid enough so people in our communities could support their families,” said Robert Hernandez, a materials management clerk at Kaiser Baldwin Park for almost 20 years. “Now since SEIU officials took over our union last year, Kaiser has announced layoffs, cut benefits, and started turning good jobs into contingent or flexed positions. We’re ready to put healthcare workers back in charge of our union again.”

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The National Labor Relations Board’s Office of Advice has issued a directive to the NLRB’s four California offices, recommending the final dismissal of charges that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has used to block fair union elections for more than 16 months. As a result of this decision, long-delayed elections may now be scheduled within a matter of weeks for thousands of California healthcare workers. [Full story]

Labor board to throw out bogus claims made by SEIU, paving way for thousands to vote and join NUHW

Thursday, June 17, 2010 at 12:18PM

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After 16 months in legal limbo, workers will finally get elections to join NUHW

WASHINGTON—The federal National Labor Relations Board’s Office of Advice has issued a directive to the NLRB’s four California offices, recommending the final dismissal of charges that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has used to block fair union elections for more than 16 months. As a result of this decision, long-delayed elections may now be scheduled within a matter of weeks for thousands of California healthcare workers.

Sonia Askew, Optician, Kaiser South Sacramento“We’re joining NUHW to bring back the strong union we used to have. I’ve been at Kaiser for 14 years, and we’ve always done better than this. People can feel the difference. Our union is weaker because of SEIU. They just can’t deliver, at the bargaining table or day to day in our workplaces.”

A majority of 380 optical workers at Kaiser have submitted a petition to the labor board, asking to change their union from SEIU to NUHW.

By July 3, every remaining SEIU bargaining unit at Kaiser will have petitioned for elections to join NUHW—a total of 47,000 workers. Read more.