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Talking Union: SEIU Fails to Sabotage California Hospital Organizing Victory

by Paul Garver

On 18 December 2009 caregivers at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital in Sonoma County, California voted for representation by the National Union of Health Workers (NUHW). SEIU had poured in forty organizers to block NUHW’s electoral victory, but secured only 13 votes for SEIU against 283 for NUHW. However SEIU’s ham-handed intervention, which focused almost exclusively on attacking the NUHW, did succeed in boosting the No Union vote to 263, nearly frustrating the workers’ right to organize.

Beyond Chron: NUHW Trounces SEIU 283-13 to Win Santa Rosa Election

he National Union of Health Workers (NUHW) has won a landmark victory over SEIU for the right to represent non-union workers at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. The vote was 283 for NUHW, 263 for No Union, 13 for SEIU, with 17 challenged ballots. The challenges are not expected to alter the outcome. 

NUHW has now won organized labor’s biggest hospital election victory of 2009, overcoming a joint “No Union” campaign mounted by management and SEIU. SEIU’s full-page newspaper ads, mailers, and visits to workers resulted in a per vote cost greatly exceeding that of New York’s Mayor Bloomberg, who at least won his election.

Video: Memorial workers celebrate victory

In today’s Beyond Chron: NUHW has now won organized labor’s biggest hospital election victory of 2009, overcoming a joint “No Union” campaign mounted by management and SEIU. … I’ve sat through a lot of election cliffhangers, but the scenario at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital as the votes came in last Friday night was almost surreal. [Read […]

Los Angeles Times: Upstart union wins a plurality in Sonoma County hospital vote

An upstart union challenging the giant Service Employees International Union won a plurality Friday in a disputed and closely watched union vote at a Sonoma County Hospital. … The result was a crushing defeat for the SEIU…

Labor Notes: NUHW is Decisive in Santa Rosa, SEIU Tries to Postpone Defeat

By Mark Brenner

Workers capped a six year campaign to organize Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital tonight, with 283 voting to join the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) against 263 votes for “no union.”

But SEIU—with a paltry 13 votes—is trying to postpone the victory party, stonewalling efforts to resolve the additional 17 challenged ballots cast in the election. If an absolute majority is not reached, NUHW will be forced to re-run the election, this time without SEIU on the ballot.

This closely-watched election was the largest private-sector contest to-date between the upstart NUHW and the organization they left behind earlier this year, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). NUHW was formed when SEIU’s national leadership forced the dissident statewide local United Healthcare Workers-West (UHW) into trusteeship last January, prompting members and leaders to establish a breakaway union.