July 23rd, 2010
Federal government will protect Kaiser workers’ right to vote
On a conference call held Wednesday by the National Labor Relations Board, the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) won an agreement that ensures workers’ right to vote by mail in the privacy of their homes, in a government-protected election to join NUHW. Up to this point, SEIU had insisted that Kaiser workers be forced […]
July 23rd, 2010
Federal government will protect Kaiser workers’ union election
Workers win important victory on terms of election for 44,000 to join NUHW
WASHINGTON, D.C. —On a conference call held Wednesday by the National Labor Relations Board, the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) won an agreement that ensures workers’ right to vote by mail in the privacy of their homes, in a government-protected election to join NUHW.
Until Wednesday’s call, the embattled incumbent union SEIU had insisted that all employees should be forced to vote in the workplace, where Kaiser managers and SEIU staff have exclusive access and have worked to prevent voters from hearing both sides. NUHW refused to agree to those terms, and advocated for a protected mail-ballot election. The federal government has agreed to set the date for such an election as early as next week.
July 15th, 2010
Providence Tarzana votes NUHW as 13,000 CHW workers launch new campaign
Nearly 600 caregivers at Providence Tarzana Medical Center voted yesterday to join NUHW. Although SEIU delayed the ballot count by asking the labor board to review an earlier decision, an absolute majority of Providence Tarzana workers signed a public statement pledging their votes for NUHW. “We’ve taken back our union,” said Julie Sidrow-Thompson, a monitor […]
July 15th, 2010
Majority of 600 hospital workers at Providence Tarzana vote to join NUHW
Victory at union’s second Catholic health system also marks beginning of campaign by 13,000 workers at Catholic Healthcare West
Tarzana, Calif.—Nearly 600 caregivers at Providence Tarzana Medical Center voted yesterday in an election to join the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) and quit the scandal-stained SEIU.
“We’ve taken back our union,” said Julie Sidrow-Thompson, a monitor tech at the hospital. “For a year and a half, SEIU has stood in our way and left us without a voice. Now that we’re united again in NUHW, we have the strength we need to stand up for our patients and ourselves.”
Providence is the second Catholic hospital system where workers have organized with NUHW, after St. Joseph Health System workers at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital joined last year. Starting today, the 13,000 caregivers at Catholic Healthcare West—the largest non-profit healthcare provider in California—are collecting signatures to call for their own election to join NUHW once they are eligible to change unions next year.
July 14th, 2010
Kaiser workers to join NUHW despite SEIU’s false statements
The following is a statement from Marie Foster, a 23-year Program Assistant at Kaiser San Jose and a member of NUHW’s Executive Board and Kaiser Organizing Committee, responding to SEIU’s false statements to the media on July 14, 2010:
“NUHW is fighting to secure the fair union elections that thousands of Kaiser workers have been demanding for 16 months, while SEIU is still trying to deny workers the right to vote in three out of four Kaiser bargaining units.
“SEIU’s effort to block these three elections is the reason there is not yet agreement on the details of these elections. NUHW wants a fair, safe, and democratic vote for all Kaiser workers. The fact that SEIU has failed to reach agreement with NUHW on this should come as no surprise. If SEIU is unable to accept a fair agreement that respects the democratic rights of workers, the NLRB will schedule the election.
“In any case, SEIU’s efforts will not stop Kaiser workers from voting for NUHW in a government-supervised election.”