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ZNet: The Battle for Kaiser: SEIU calls for WWIII

By Cal Winslow

SEIU has already rushed through a sweetheart deal, a tentative contract with Kaiser. It has agreed to a 3% increase in wages for two years, but this is what workers were guaranteed in the current contract – they would have received this next year even if they had simply walked away from bargaining. It marks the lowest wage settlement in fifteen years. SEIU has also left the door wide opened for healthcare concessions – a committee will be convened next year to review Kaiser’s proposed cuts. This is in line with SEIU-UHW’s healthcare concessions policies in California – sign anything, keep NUHW out. This new “national” agreement was cut and rushed through by SEIU-UHW trustee “old school” Dave Regan – breaking long standing precedent, there will be no local bargaining. The agreement, clearly settled with the NUHW Kaiser campaign in mind, comes as Kaiser reports record profits – $2.2 billion in 2009, $600,000 in the first quarter of 2010.

Majority of 380 Kaiser optical workers petition to join NUHW

Five of Kaiser’s seven bargaining units have now joined NUHW or signed majority petitions Oakland, Calif.—A majority of 380 optical workers at Kaiser have submitted a petition to the National Labor Relations Board asking to change their union from SEIU to the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW). “We’re joining NUHW to bring back the […]

Kaiser Optical workers petition for NUHW

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 […]

Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Judge upholds Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital union vote

By Martin Espinoza

An administrative law judge has rejected Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital’s allegations that improper election tactics were used during a unionization vote late last year.

Hospital administrators claimed supporters of the National Union of Healthcare Workers engaged in electioneering near polling places and intimidated workers. They asked that the election results be “set aside” and that a new vote be conducted.

But the judge, William L. Schmidt, in May 28 report, said there was insufficient evidence to sustain Memorial’s objections and recommended that the National Labor Relations Board certify NUHW as the exclusive collective bargaining unit for the employees.

“I am very excited. I’m very excited to move forward with organizing a union at Memorial Hospital,” said Melissa BoSanco, a Memorial care partner and NUHW organizer.

Sacramento Business Journal: Kaiser mental health workers petition for election

By Kathy Robertson

A majority of 1,300 Northern California mental health professionals at Kaiser Permanente have signed a petition calling for a union election that would allow them to change their union representation from Service Employees International Union-United Health Care Workers (UHW) to a rival started by former SEIU leaders.

June 3 marks the beginning of a 30-day open window when Kaiser employees have a right to change unions, leaders at the National Union of Healthcare Workers say.

But there is a legal dispute over the timing of the election; Kaiser and UHW contend workers can’t vote until June 2011. The Oakland regional office of the National Labor Relations Board told the Business Journal last week there’s a 90- to 120-day window for union elections before the current contract expires Sept. 30.

Members of Kaiser’s Integrated Behavioral Health Services unit, which includes 143 workers in the Sacramento region, plan to file their petition on Thursday, Day One of what they consider the open window.

Almost 2,300 Southern California Kaiser workers -including about 900 psychiatric social workers – already switched to NUHW following a lopsided vote in favor of the rival union in January.