Workers reject cynical effort by SEIU officials to deny them the right to join a union

Jose Bolanos, cook“We organized our union so we could stand up for ourselves, and make sure our residents get the best possible care and that we are treated with the dignity and respect we deserve. Now we have a voice to do that. We’re thrilled to be part of a democratic union that is run by healthcare workers like us.”

Seventy caregivers at The Sequoias Assisted Living Facility in Portola Valley have won their election to form a union with NUHW.

SEIU had tried to block this election for several months with frivolous charges. When the labor board rejected their charges and scheduled the election, they failed to win enough support to get a spot on the ballot. The final vote was 40 for NUHW and 20 for “No Union.”

SEIU officials forced to abandon election after failing to win any support

Hospital Housekeeping Systems (HHS) workers at Los Alamitos Hospital voted 35-to-7 to form a union with NUHW, despite an aggressive effort by another union to stop them.

“I’m overjoyed that we finally have a voice to protect our jobs and our families,” said Matilde Garcia, an HHS worker and member of the organizing committee. “And I’m proud that we stayed united and chose a union that respects its members and is run by healthcare workers like us.”

The scandal-plagued SEIU, widely condemned for its attacks on other unions, had tried to intervene. After the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rejected SEIU’s attempt to block the election by filing frivolous legal charges, SEIU tried to compete in the election—but abandoned their effort last week when they failed to win any support from workers.

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Bob Hardebeck, Surgical Tech at Garden Grove Hospital

“When SEIU agreed to subcontracting in 2007, we had to fight both SEIU and the employer for a year to protect our jobs and have a voice in our own contract. That’s why it’s so important for healthcare workers ourselves to control negotiations with our employers. In NUHW, we’re coming together to protect our jobs and our wages.”

Eight months after healthcare workers founded NUHW, our movement continues to grow. Today, a majority of workers at four Southern California hospitals filed petitions to join NUHW.

As the NLRB rejects more of SEIU’s fabricated blocking charges, more than 1,600 caregivers will have their chance to vote and join NUHW at Garden Grove Hospital, Providence Tarzana Medical Center, USC University Hospital, and Olympia Medical Center.

Healthcare workers: Use this leaflet [PDF] to share the news in your workplace.

In the first contest between SEIU and the National Union of Healthcare Workers overseen by the NLRB, SEIU has abandoned its effort after failing to win any support among environmental services workers at Los Alamitos Hospital.

Employees of Los Alamitos Hospital subcontractor Hospital Housekeeping Systems (HHS) had never been part of a union before they filed petitions to join NUHW in March. Now that SEIU has withdrawn their effort to divide HHS employees, the workers will vote to choose between NUHW and “No Union” on Sept. 28.

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Warren Mar is a longtime labor and community leader in San Francisco and a board member of the Chinese Progressive Association. Click the link below to read the text of his open letter to SEIU-UHW Homecare Division Director Leon Chow.

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Homecare providers spoke out in front of the Sonoma County Administration Building Tuesday morning, asking County Supervisors for help in finding out details of a secret union agreement by SEIU-UHW that could reduce their wages and benefits over the next two years.

Providers will never be shown the actual agreement between SEIU-UHW and the County, and will only be allowed to vote after sitting through a sales pitch by union officials. The agreement would reportedly allow the County to slash pay by $2 an hour just one year after the contract is ratified, and take away workers’ Kaiser health plan and replace it with a cheaper insurance scheme that healthcare advocates have called on the Attorney General to investigate

Click the link below to read more and hear from other Sonoma County homecare providers.

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Healthcare workers protest NLRBSEIU has relied on the same tactics as the worst anti-union employers to delay workers’ right to vote, including filing hundreds of frivolous charges with the NLRB to create a logjam.

But after hundreds of workers protested in front of NLRB offices in Los Angeles and Oakland, the NLRB has finally begun resolving the charges. The NLRB lifted the first of many blocking charges by SEIU and scheduled elections at three facilities. Long-term care workers at The Sequoias in Portola Valley and housekeeping workers at Los Alamitos Medical Center and Providence Tarzana Medical Center will vote within the month.

The NLRB could soon dismiss blocking charges at dozens more facilities, finally allowing thousands of California healthcare workers the right to choose their union.

NUHW supporters picket OlympiaThe National Labor Relations Board has issued three decisions in favor of NUHW supporters:

• The NLRB charged Olympia Medical Center with violating the rights of union stewards by disciplining them for supporting NUHW. Records of the discipline will be removed from the workers’ files, and Olympia must promise not to threaten NUHW supporters with retaliation.
• The NLRB issued a complaint against Sutter Health for disciplining the chief steward there for union activity. The federal government is taking action on the chief steward’s behalf against Sutter Health in an upcoming formal hearing.
• The NLRB has lifted the first of SEIU’s blocking charges, unblocking NUHW elections at several facilities.

Click below for four more homecare leaders in San Francisco.

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