SEIU kept workers from bargaining a contract for ten months by crying unfair; judge rules SEIU, not NUHW, had unfair advantage

San Pablo, Calif.—Almost a year after workers at Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo voted 158-to-24 to quit SEIU and join the National Union of Healthcare Workers, an independent judge has determined that California’s labor board should certify the landslide vote and make the switch official.

Workers at the hospital have been prevented from bargaining a contract since last May because of the reckless actions of SEIU officials, who filed fraudulent objections to the election that have now been rejected.

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Today’s decision will allow SEIU officials to manipulate the labor board’s process in order to divide workers, by strategically unblocking elections first at facilities where they think they can avoid another loss.

“It’s shameful that SEIU would rather divide workers than let their own members vote,” said Jeanne Pilotte, a dietary aide at Seton Medical Center for more than 30 years.

“Daughters of Charity workers fought hard in bargaining so we could unite our strength across all five hospitals and have a stronger voice for ourselves and our patients,” she said. “Since 2004, we have all bargainined our contract at the same table. When SEIU took over, we petitioned the labor board together to join NUHW and take back our union. Now SEIU wants to make us vote separately so they can try to keep some of us trapped in their organization.”

“It won’t work. We’re voting for NUHW to bring back democracy and integrity in our union.”

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Citing complaints of intimidation and harassment, elected officials and community leaders ask SEIU-UHW to agree to ground rules that guarantee free choice for healthcare workers

SAN FRANCISCO—More than 100 San Francisco elected officials and community leaders—including State Senator Mark Leno, Assemblymembers Fiona Ma and Tom Ammiano, and 10 out of 11 San Francisco Supervisors—have called on SEIU-UHW to respect healthcare workers’ rights in upcoming elections for San Francisco caregivers to choose between SEIU and the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW).

They’ve released an open letter asking SEIU to agree on fair ground rules to make sure workers aren’t harassed or threatened.¹

“Fair Election Agreements are a community standard for union elections in San Francisco,” said Aaron Peskin, Chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party and former President of the Board of Supervisors.

“All we are asking is for SEIU-UHW to negotiate rules of conduct, like those they have asked us to support in every one of their elections over the past decade. They should have no difficulty in doing so unless they intend to engage in conduct they have historically denounced.”

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Washington, D.C.—The National Union of Healthcare Workers today called for the confirmation of Craig Becker, President Obama’s nominee for the National Labor Relations Board.

In a letter sent to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, NUHW Interim President Sal Rosselli wrote,

“Mr. Becker has impeccable scholarly credentials, a strong reputation as fair, ethical and objective advocate for workers’ rights, and a long history of experience in exactly this field of law. …[W]e are reassured by Mr. Becker’s assurances that he will act with the highest ethical standards and, with the appropriate, independent ethical advice, recuse himself from cases that may involve the SEIU in the future.”

Click here to read the letter.

New member-led union caps first year with biggest victories yet; votes called a “referendum” against SEIU’s power grabs and secret deals with employers 

LOS ANGELES—Nearly one year to the day after SEIU seized control of California’s healthcare union in a hostile takeover, nurses and healthcare professionals at nearly 100 Kaiser hospitals and clinics have voted to take back their union by joining the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW).

“Today we’ve restored democracy and integrity in our union,” said Irma Dufelmeier, a registered nurse at Kaiser’s Los Angeles Medical Center. “At Kaiser, we’ve won the highest standards in the country for healthcare workers and our patients. Now we have a member-led union where we can protect those standards. These elections are a referendum on SEIU’s backroom deals with healthcare corporations that give away workers’ and patients’ rights.”

The National Labor Relations Board counted ballots today for 2,300 workers in three bargaining units. Workers’ victory was overwhelming, with 1,652 voting to join NUHW and just 254 for SEIU. Registered nurses at Kaiser’s Los Angeles Medical Center voted 746 to 36 for NUHW; psychiatric social workers voted 717 to 192; and other healthcare professionals voted 189 to 29.

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“Sour grapes”: With less than 3% of vote, defeated SEIU still trying to stand in workers’ way

Santa Rosa, Calif.—One month after a hotly contested union election at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, both hospital management and the newly-elected National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) have agreed to accept a determination by the federal government that resolves the question of 13 challenged ballots and gives the new union an absolute majority.

“There’s no question that my co-workers and I are joining NUHW,” said Melissa Bosanco, a care partner at the hosptial. “We voted NUHW because we want a voice to make our hospital a better place to work and a better place for our community to get care.”

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SEIU charged with abusing labor board’s process to block or delay elections for tens of thousands of healthcare workers

SAN FRANCISCO—A new charge against the troubled SEIU could result in long-awaited elections for workers at more than 80 hospitals and nursing homes across California to dump SEIU and join the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW).

Over the past year, 100,000 SEIU members have been organizing to join NUHW, a member-led union founded by California healthcare workers. To stop these workers from voting to leave, the SEIU has filed frivolous “blocking charges” with the labor board, arguing that it would be unfair for SEIU to face a democratic vote by its own members.

“Healthcare workers have chosen NUHW in election after election,” said Donna Mongelli, an RN at Kaiser’s Los Angeles Medical Center. “That’s why SEIU is afraid of a fair vote.”

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Troubled union still struggling to stop fair elections for thousands of their own members to switch to NUHW

LOS ANGELES—After a year of stalling union elections for more than 100,000 of their own members to quit SEIU, SEIU officials have cast themselves as champions of democracy in a cynical move to manipulate the election schedule in their favor. Since last February, SEIU has blocked or delayed elections at more than 360 healthcare facilities in California where caregivers are organizing to join the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW).

“In election after election, healthcare workers have chosen NUHW,” said Kathleen Volle, a respiratory therapist at St. Louise Regional Hospital in Santa Clara County. “SEIU knows their days are numbered and they’re trying to grab anything they can on their way out.”

SEIU’s latest move comes just a week after 70 percent of nurses at Kaiser Permanente’s flagship Los Angeles hospital pledged their votes to NUHW in a government-supervised election—and just one month since workers at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital chose NUHW 283-to-13 in what the Los Angeles Times called “a crushing defeat for the SEIU.”

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Election includes 900 registered nurses at Kaiser’s largest L.A.-area hospital and 1,400 professionals across Southern California

Local audio clips and photos:

San Diego: Jim Clifford, Therapist, Kaiser San Diego
[Photo | MP3]

Los Angeles: Tessie Costales, Registered Nurse at Kaiser Sunset/LAMC
[Photo | MP3]

Inland Empire: Marty Needleman, Psychiatric Social Worker, Kaiser Fontana
[Photo | MP3]

Bakersfield: Stacy Eldridge, Registered Dietitian, Kaiser Bakersfield
[Photo | MP3]

Southern California—Healthcare professionals at nearly one hundred Kaiser Permanente hospitals and clinics are voting today to switch unions. They say their old union, the Service Employees union or S-E-I-U, has shut them out of negotiations with employers—and cut deals that hurt healthcare workers and their patients.

The 2,300 workers include registered nurses, therapists, dietitians, and psychiatric social workers across Southern California. They’re part of an exodus of more than 100,000 S-E-I-U members who are organizing to join the National Union of Healthcare Workers, or N-U-H-W.

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Salinas, Calif.—An overwhelming majority of caregivers at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital have filed a petition to choose the National Union of Healthcare Workers as their union and end their membership in the SEIU.

They have become the latest to join an exodus of more than 100,000 SEIU members across California who are fleeing the troubled union. The movement began last January, when SEIU officials from Washington, D.C. took over the local chapter, forced healthcare workers from elected positions, and put themselves in charge.

“We’re bargaining our contract next August, and we need a union we can count on,” said Esther Nuñez, a cashier and chief union steward at the hospital. “We’ve seen the takeaways SEIU has agreed to at Kaiser and at other hospitals this year, and we’re not going to let that happen to us.”

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