November 1st, 2010
860 Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital caregivers win certification with NUHW
Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital Workers celebrate becoming the newest members of NUHW Last Thursday, 860 workers at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital (SVMH) celebrated as the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) fully recognized their membership in the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW). Since the workers chose to join NUHW by a two-to-one margin this May, […]
October 21st, 2010
Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital workers picket for safe staffing levels
More than a hundred healthcare workers marched outside Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital today to draw attention to the potential impact of more than 100 layoffs and employee buyouts ordered by hospital management. Employees decided to hold the picket by a 97% vote last week. “Cutting jobs means cutting healthcare for our community,” said Nina Perez, […]
October 21st, 2010
Memorial Hospital workers picket for safe staffing levels
More than 100 protest against layoffs and buyouts that reduce the quality of care
Salinas, Calif.—More than a hundred healthcare workers marched outside Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital today to draw attention to the potential impact of more than 100 layoffs and employee buyouts ordered by hospital management. Employees decided to hold the picket by a 97% vote last week.
“Cutting jobs means cutting healthcare for our community,” said Nina Perez, an OB tech in the Labor and Delivery department for 11 years. “When they eliminate this many staff, patients and their families are going to see the difference. Caregivers are already stretched too thin.”
October 15th, 2010
Will illegal and collusive behavior by Kaiser Permanente result in a new union election for 43,000 California healthcare workers?
Attorneys representing employees and NUHW file objections to management’s support for SEIU in recent election
Oakland, Calif.—One week after ballots were counted in the largest private sector union election in 70 years, attorneys for the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) have filed to have the election result overturned.
Employers are required to remain neutral in elections between unions over bargaining rights. Documents filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) outline a number of overt and unfair labor practices by Kaiser management against its workers, beginning with Kaiser’s refusal to pay promised raises and other benefits to workers in Southern California who recently voted to join NUHW. In the election between NUHW and SEIU, Kaiser management worked closely and illegally with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to influence the election outcome for 43,000 workers statewide in multiple ways. The NLRB earlier this month announced action against Kaiser for some of its bad behavior. According to today’s filing:
“Kaiser’s misconduct is so severe in this regard that not only has the NLRB issued a complaint concerning it, but it is seeking the extraordinary remedy of 10(j) relief because of the deleterious effect such flagrant disregard of the law creates on NUHW’s stature and ability to organize. In its court filings, the General Counsel has specifically referred to the role of this unlawful misconduct in the instant election.”
October 12th, 2010
CounterPunch: How the SEIU won in California
Big Money, the Big Lie and Fear
By Cal Winslow
The vote, 18,290 for SEIU, 11,364 for NUHW, was expected to have been closer. SEIU’s massive use of thousands of imported staff, multiple glossy mailers, robo calls and home visits apparently paid off. So did collusion with Kaiser and the NLRB. NUHW, quite rightly, will appeal the results.
The cost for SEIU – of the Kaiser election (SEIU refuses requests to itemize its expenditures) will rank as one of the highest (per voter) in US history. Observers estimate the total thus far at $20 to $40 million. Randy Shaw, writing in BeyondChron (September 7, 2010), argues that even if SEIU has spent only $20 million — “it will exceed Whitman’s: the former EBay CEO spent 100 million in the primary to reach 17 million voters, SEIU spent 20-40 per cent of that to reach 44,000 Kaiser workers — or 2 per cent of the size. That means that SEIU spent between $495-$910 per vote, the equivalent of Whitma’n spending between $7.7 and $15.4 billion to become California’s next Governor.”
Money, we know, is sometimes not enough. So SEIU threw in intimidation, a campaign of smears, lies and fear. Consider this one example: SEIU consistently (in the hundreds of mailings it sent to members) accused NUHW leaders as having “stolen” members money, and, moreover, having been found guilty in court. Kaiser workers were treated with flyers featuring fake mug shots of NUHW leaders under the headline, “Guilty.” The truth – no NUHW leader (in stark contrast to SEIU’s scandal-ridden California operations) has been found guilty of stealing a penny, let alone charged with this in a court.