On Monday, SEIU lawyers will have to argue their case in a trial that labor journalists and historians say is an unprecedented attack on workers’ right to a democratic voice in their union.

“Are elected union leaders accountable to the workers who elected them, or must they only take orders from above, even when workers oppose it?” asked Cal Winslow, historian and author of Labor’s Civil War in California: the NUHW Healthcare Workers’ Rebellion.

“SEIU is advancing a dangerous legal theory that leaders can be personally targeted to collect damages, even when there is no allegation of personal gain, simply because of a difference of opinion.”

Northern California—Caregivers at ten nursing homes operated by GranCare (formerly Mariner) have petitioned the labor board for an election to join the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) and end their membership in the SEIU.

GranCare workers have the best union contract in the country for nursing home workers, won in 2008 by the workplace leaders and negotiators who are now with NUHW. It was the first nursing home contract ever to tie caregivers wages to wages at Kaiser Foundation hospitals. The Kaiser contract, also bargained by NUHW’s negotiators, sets the standard for California’s healthcare industry.

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.

“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.”

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.”

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.

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.

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.”

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.”

“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.”