December 17th, 2009
Press-Democrat: Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital union vote starts today
Two competing unions, plus no-union option are on ballot at SR’s biggest hospital
By MARTIN ESPINOZA & Kevin McCallum
After almost six years of labor organizing, health care workers at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital begin voting today on whether or not they should be represented by a union.
The two-day vote — in part a showdown between the Service Employees International Union and the break-away National Union of Healthcare Workers — could affect almost 700 employees at Memorial Hospital, including radiology and respiratory technicians, nurse’s aides, housekeepers, dietary workers and other positions.
“I’m so excited,” said Melissa Bosanco, a care partner in Memorial’s ontology unit and a supporter of SEIU’s rival union. She’s a member of NUHW’s organizing committee.
December 17th, 2009
Los Angeles Times: Hospital vote pits upstart union against colossus
After an intense campaign that has drawn nationwide attention, workers at Santa Rosa Memorial will choose between a new group and the giant SEIU. Or they may reject both.
By Patrick J. McDonnell
Hundreds of workers at a Sonoma County hospital are scheduled to go to the polls today in a bitter and closely watched union vote pitting the giant Service Employees International against an upstart rival.
The balloting at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital has drawn intense scrutiny in labor circles nationwide because of the nasty underlying conflict between the SEIU and its breakaway competitor, the National Union of Healthcare Workers.
December 16th, 2009
Labor Notes: Finally, NUHW Squares Off Against SEIU in Two Hospital Elections
Workers at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital will vote between NUHW, SEIU and no union December 17 and 18. This election, along with a similar contest for 2,300 professional staff at Kaiser may be a bellwether for NUHW in 2010.
Nearly eleven months of courtroom stalling has slowed the upstart National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), but a break in the legal logjam may be coming—finally giving California’s health care workers the ability to choose their union.
December 16th, 2009
Santa Rosa Memorial workers reject SEIU’s union-busting campaign
Workers at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital have been working six years to form a union. A week before their election, SEIU bussed in hundreds of staff to picket their hospital with anti-union messages to try to sabotage their vote.
December 16th, 2009
KPFA Morning Show on Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital election
Telemetry Technician Nancy Timberlake and Radiology Technologist Jack Nicholson talk about tomorrow’s election at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. Source: KPFA Morning Show