March 4th, 2010
Orange County Register: police investigating union worker fight at hospital
By Deepa Bharath
A 31-year-old union employee could face misdemeanor assault charges after she pushed another union worker who was meeting with employees at Garden Grove Hospital’s cafeteria, police said.
The incident, caught on video and posted on YouTube, shows a woman talking to a hospital employee in a high-pitched, emotional voice. Then the man holding the camera remarks: “Blame it on the members, blame your incompetence…” At that point, the woman charges toward the camera mouthing obscenities at the man and knocks the camera out of his hands.
March 4th, 2010
Modern Healthcare: union votes allowed at over 30 healthcare sites
By: Joe Carlson
The National Labor Relations Board has cleared the way for union elections at more than 30 healthcare facilities in Northern California, while withholding judgment on requests for union elections at another 30 or so.
The NUHW has filed dozens of petitions in the past year to have workers decertify their SEIU units and switch to NUHW. The new group has had a handful of election successes, but most of its petitions have been blocked procedurally by SEIU through charges filed with the national labor board.
March 3rd, 2010
Statement by NUHW on today’s decision by the National Labor Relations Board
Today’s decision will allow SEIU officials to manipulate the labor board’s process in order to divide workers, by strategically unblocking elections first at facilities where they think they can avoid another loss.
“It’s shameful that SEIU would rather divide workers than let their own members vote,” said Jeanne Pilotte, a dietary aide at Seton Medical Center for more than 30 years.
“Daughters of Charity workers fought hard in bargaining so we could unite our strength across all five hospitals and have a stronger voice for ourselves and our patients,” she said. “Since 2004, we have all bargainined our contract at the same table. When SEIU took over, we petitioned the labor board together to join NUHW and take back our union. Now SEIU wants to make us vote separately so they can try to keep some of us trapped in their organization.”
“It won’t work. We’re voting for NUHW to bring back democracy and integrity in our union.”
March 3rd, 2010
San Francisco Bay Guardian: SF leaders condemn SEIU tactics
By Steven T. Jones
San Franciscans seem to be turning against Service Employee International Union and its national President Andy Stern this week, first with the vote by SEIU Local 1021 members to oust Stern’s leadership team [1], and now with a letter signed by a broad array of top political officials condemning SEIU tactics against the National Union of Healthcare Workers.
March 3rd, 2010
More than 100 S.F. leaders call on SEIU-UHW to respect workers’ rights in upcoming union elections
Citing complaints of intimidation and harassment, elected officials and community leaders ask SEIU-UHW to agree to ground rules that guarantee free choice for healthcare workers
SAN FRANCISCO—More than 100 San Francisco elected officials and community leaders—including State Senator Mark Leno, Assemblymembers Fiona Ma and Tom Ammiano, and 10 out of 11 San Francisco Supervisors—have called on SEIU-UHW to respect healthcare workers’ rights in upcoming elections for San Francisco caregivers to choose between SEIU and the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW).
They’ve released an open letter asking SEIU to agree on fair ground rules to make sure workers aren’t harassed or threatened.1
“Fair Election Agreements are a community standard for union elections in San Francisco,” said Aaron Peskin, Chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party and former President of the Board of Supervisors.
“All we are asking is for SEIU-UHW to negotiate rules of conduct, like those they have asked us to support in every one of their elections over the past decade. They should have no difficulty in doing so unless they intend to engage in conduct they have historically denounced.”