We are NUHW

We are the union. The co-workers who work with you every day caring for our patients. We know our hospitals. We know that we need a real voice in our workplace to take care of our patients and our families.

Why we chose NUHW

To: Our Coworkers at St. Joseph Health System (SJHS) Hospitals and Clinics, and the members of the communities we serve

March 19th, 2009

For over two years we have been organizing our union with SEIU United Healthcare Workers - West (UHW) to be part of making decisions that affect our profession, our families and our patients. 

We have faced many challenges but our shared goal of making our hospitals and clinics the best places to give and receive care has kept us united and focused. Two years ago, caregivers at SJHS hospitals and clinics in Orange County joined the effort begun by caregivers at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital because we knew that to make the greatest improvements to patient care, wages, benefits and working conditions we needed to unite in one union. For that same reason, we write to you today.

We had been organizing with UHW because it had negotiated some of the highest wages and benefits in the country, was the fastest growing local union within their umbrella organization, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and had a reputation of democratic accountability and worker participation. 

For two years, UHW members endeavored to make SEIU a “bottom-up, grassroots organization rather than top-down.”  In early January, Andy Stern, president of SEIU and the SEIU executive board in Washington, D.C., insisted that 65,000 long-term care members be taken out of UHW and moved into a statewide long-term care local. The affected workers had no real vote in the proposed transfer. 

UHW members stood up for their right to choose their union and the right to be part of all negotiations with their employers. On January 27th, Mr. Stern retaliated, executing a hostile take over of UHW, removing 100 democratically elected UHW leaders, revoking its constitution and bylaws and seizing its offices and assets.  This action effectively destroyed UHW.

UHW members do not believe that a strong and democratic union can continue to exist within SEIU. That is why they have formed the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) and are circulating petitions to leave SEIU-UHW and join NUHW.

In only a month, more than 91,000 UHW members in long term care facilities and hospitals owned by health systems like Catholic Healthcare West, Sutter Health, Daughters of Charity, IHHI and Kaiser Permanente, have filed for elections to join the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW).

Under the circumstances, we, the Organizing Committee at SJHS, have no confidence in SEIU. We have decided to join our fellow healthcare workers in California who are now organizing with NUHW to have the most effective, democratic voice in decisions that affect our families and our patients. In these difficult economic times we know the only way to have secure employment, wages and benefits is through organizing into a genuine and democratic union.

Sincerely,

The St Joseph Health System Statewide Organizing Committee

Signed,

Don Fugate, Santa Rosa Memorial
Gabby Martinez, Mission Hospital
Ritchie Macadaeg, St Jude Medical Center
Mary Grijalva, Santa Ana Clinic, SJO
Paul Gilbertson, Santa Rosa Memorial
Judith Rice, Mission Hospital
Leonel Pina, St Jude Medical Center
Drina Robledo, Chapman Clinic, SJO
Debbie Leazer, Santa Rosa Memorial
Noelle Preston, Santa Rosa Memorial
Baudelio Alcala, St Jude Medical Center
Paisley Roberts, Santa Rosa Memorial
Priscilla Yaeger, Santa Rosa Memorial
Santiago Capote, Mission Hospital
Janice Smith, St Jude Medical Center
Christine Hoex, Santa Rosa Memorial
Jack Nicholson, Santa Rosa Memorial
Latanya Trotter, Santa Ana Clinic, SJO
Eduardo Yebra, Santa Rosa Memorial
Michael Hopper, Petaluma Valley Hospital
Melissa Bosanco, Santa Rosa Memorial
Richard Camarillo, St Jude Medical Center
Karen Vega, Mission Hospital
Rosa Santos, Santa Rosa Memorial
Buddy Bosanco, Santa Rosa Memorial
Pablo Zambrano, St Joseph Hospital
Melissa Elgin, Santa Rosa Memorial
Nancy Timberlake, Santa Rosa Memorial
Rocio Allen, Santa Rosa Memorial
Felicia Powell, Mission Hospital
Beatrice de la Cruz, Santa Ana Clinic, SJO
Gumecindo Gonzales, Santa Rosa Memorial
Jayna Gravesen, Santa Rosa Memorial
Rafael Galeano, St Joseph Hospital
Juan Zamarripa, Mission Hospital
Shirley Cervelli, Santa Rosa Memorial
Michael Hartnett, Santa Rosa Memorial
Sarah Holquin, Santa Ana Clinic, SJO
José Vasquez, Santa Rosa Memorial
Luis Cuevas Lugo, Santa Rosa Memorial
Al Coello, Santa Rosa Memorial
Juan Gamiño, Santa Rosa Memorial
Graciela Brito, Mission Hospital
Eloyd Mock, Mission Hospital
Gilbert Zamora, Sr., St Joseph Hospital
Joey Zamora, St Joseph Hospital