[pickledpepperRN]

Vote on unionization of Catholic Healthcare nurses called off

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/con...ses_Union.html

[pickledpepperRN]

The Service Employees International Union is known for "partnering" with major corporations--whether that's Wal-Mart on healthcare reform, nursing home companies on blocking nursing home reform, or their own employers, including HMOs and hospital chains.
When they partner with their employers, they agree to work together for the good of the company, which puts the needs of members second to the needs of the employers, and ends their ability to advocate for social justice and truly progressive reforms, including single-payer healthcare.
This is a danger to the entire labor movement, and the main reason SEIU bolted from the AFL-CIO a few years ago.

But this extraordinary story--which included having the hospital chain actually file the papers for the union--is a new step for SEIU, and fortunately one that has been stopped.

One journalist reports she was told, "It's like the workers will have two bosses, and they pay dues to one of them."

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/3/12/154714/773

[nowknowhow]

This, unfortunately, looks like another round of CNA doing what they do best - fighting workers! I was an SEIU organizer in Southern California several years ago when they pulled this move in Tenet, HCA, and CHW elections. Yay! Now they're a parasite on the whole country too!

By way of framing: employers don't like unions, and, absent a reason not to, they do anything and everything to prevent workers from organizing unions.

Here's CNA's recipe:
Step 1 - Watch while workers build a broad and powerful enough movement to get the boss to agree to fair elections (i.e. an nlrb election with agreed-upon conduct that allows workers to make a decision without coercion from the boss).

Step 2 - Destroy that workers' movement. More specifically, once workers win a fair election, CNA jumps into the organizing drive, accuses SEIU of a back room deal, and intervenes in the election, delaying and/or canceling the election, ultimately destroying any hope workers had of joining together in the near future.

They use the same messages every time:

- RN's need a "professional union" (fomenting divisions between RNs and other caregivers, and weakening the strength of the united hospital staff)

- Its a "back room deal," presenting the specter of the mob-unions of the past, despite the transparent and public efforts of hospital workers and elected union leaders to achieve the agreement.

The theory appears to be that *if* workers are able to muster a second-go on the fair election, CNA will have maneuvered its own "back room deal" to get on the ballot.

You know, why invest organizing resources on building a labor movement, when you can just steal it from other union members?

On one hand, it is incredibly discouraging that this so-called "union" continues on this anarchistic, divisive and ultimately regressive track. On the other, though, the transparency of this "bust" - where they simply moved an anti-union / "vote no" campaign - completely undermines the high-road bs coming out of their lefter-than-thou communication department in Oakland.

No matter how many times, or how loudly you shout for justice, if you're actually a union busting machine, word is going to get out.

[pickledpepperRN]

At my hospital my friend called CNA. WE met with each other for many many months before we filed with about 70% of the nurses signing cards.
WE work very well with our colleagues who are not RNs.
WE helped them get another union so they have protection too. And we were first so they got the same improved benefits we negotiated.

I have NEVER heard of management filing for a union election!

HOW did that happen?

[klbackus]

My nursing career has been dedicated to advancing nurses' voices in our hospitals, our communities, our state legislatures and in Congress. I've chosen to work with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) because it is the best organization to advocate for professional nurses in all of these areas.

The California Nurses Association (CNA) stooped to an all-time low when it interfered in a democratic election whereby 8,000 nurses and other hospital employees could choose whether or not they wanted to form a union with SEIU. Now, those caregivers are left without a voice--not SEIU, not CNA.

This is just another ill-spirited maneuver that threatens our patients and profession. Time and time again, CNA has used whatever union-busting means necessary, including lies, threats, and intimidation, to prevent healthcare employees from uniting in SEIU--these are not virtues that our profession stands for. And these tactics aren't isolated to one state, much less the state of California where 100,000 RNs are without a union. I've seen it in St. Louis, Chicago, Reno, Las Vegas, Memphis and more.

My heart goes out to the RNs at Catholic Healthcare Partners and other hospitals who have had their dreams shattered by CNA--a so-called patient advocacy organization and so-called union.

[pvhEDRn]

It is my understanding that the RN's along with their co-workers worked together with SEIU for over 3 years to get this election. To get the ability to advocate for themselves and their patients. They went door to door to drum up support and put pressure on CHP. They met with government officals. They risked their jobs. Now the hope of having a greater voice for their patients and themselves has been trashed by a Union that could have also been there 3 years ago and working with the Nurses.
I get so tired of CNA's our union or no union mentality. The shortages are real and getting worse. Without a voice nurses and patients have no protections. I working a facility in which the RN's and everyone else are represented by SEIU. We have an all RN local. Together the two locals work together and we have not only stopped the hospitals plans to get rid of all support staff in response to the mandated ratios in our state, but we have made improvements.
CNA should colaborate with SEIU and not just chase them arounds preventing others from getting a voice.

[Ludlow]

This is not the 1st time SEIU has negotiated with the bosses long before ever finding out what the majority of the workers want and need. About 5 years ago they did the same thing with Tenet.

[stephrnmedsurg123456]

Ludlow, please get the facts straight. Nurses, not bosses or the seiu, were going to determine what nurses wanted in the union votes at chp hospitals. The nurses were deciding by secret ballot election whether or not they wanted a union -- no dictatorship here, just democracy. It seems to me that if anyone was acting without respect to the nurses wishes, it was the CNA organizers who showed up, started engaging in extremely disruptive and misleading behavior, and led to these elections being cancelled. I have seen zero evidence that a majority of chp nurses asked the cna to come in and bust up their secret ballot union elections!

Check out this quote from someone, who unless I'm mistaken, is a nurse at one of the affected hospitals:

Yesterday, 09:51 PM
fred456
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Re: Attention CHP Ohio RN's
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I read the quote from Samantha RN. SEIU was not hand picked The vote was not called off because of none support, but was called off because of the interruption of patient care caused by the NNOC/CNA. The NNOC says 'SEIU was forced to cancel rigged election after protests by RNs and other employees.' Not true!! The cancellation of the election is not a huge blow to SEIU or CHP. We will have our election later. It has only been postponed. So NNOC/CNA stay in california. The nurses in OHIO believe in professionalism and empowering their nurses to make decision, not being bullied.


http://allnurses.com/forums/f167/att...-287639-3.html

[Ludlow]

Originally Posted by stephrnmedsurg123456

Ludlow, please get the facts straight. Nurses, not bosses or the seiu, were going to determine what nurses wanted in the union votes at chp hospital

Thanks for pointing this out. Please remember though that when nurses determine if they want to be represented by a union, they organize, sign cards stating that they want union representation, and then when at minimum 30% of the nurses in a potential bargaining unit has signed cards showing they want representation, they go to a vote. 30% of 3000 nurses would be 900 nurses. Where are they?

[NorthernNurse1]

Good questions---another union could have been on the ballot if even one worker asked for that union. Plus, CNA had three years to do this, but they do not work that way. Their history is to come in at the last minute and ruin other nurses' and healthcare workers' elections.