this week, nearly 8,000 nurses and other healthcare workers in ohio saw their dreams of forming a union derailed after the california nurses association (cna) flooded the state with hostile organizers and bombarded workers with wildly false and misleading leaflets and phone calls urging them to vote against the union.
for three years the workers joined with service employees international union (seiu) members, leaders and staff to form their union. they sent letters to catholic healthcare partners (chp) officials, mobilized community support, campaigned for fair organizing rules, and signed petitions saying they wanted to unite in seiu. the effort resulted in ground rules agreed to by both the workers and chp that were designed to put the interests of workers first—not the union or employer. they called for quick elections without delays, equal access to information from both sides, and guidelines to ensure honest discourse.
because of the union-busting onslaught by cna, the ethical, fair and democratic elections scheduled for today and friday at nine (chp) hospitals in ohio have been suspended.
the following is an open letter from those os us nurses who were denied the chance to unite this week for better jobs and healthcare to rose ann demoro, executive director of the california nurses association:
march 12, 2008
dear rose ann demoro,
it’s hard for us to imagine how someone who calls herself a labor leader could purposely do what you have done to us and our families. you don’t know any of us. you have never been to our homes or met our children. you have never visited us on our shifts, or walked in our shoes. you don’t know a thing a bout the struggle that brought us to the verge of our dream to have a union. and yet without talking to a single one of us you send your bullying staff to come in and spread terrible lies for no other reason than to destroy what we worked so hard to build.
for three years we have worked with seiu members, leaders and staff to form our union. we sent letters to hospital officials and mobilized community support for fair organizing rules. seiu has supported and encouraged us through some very hard times, and helped us stand up for ourselves. we are caregivers—registered nurses and respiratory therapists, dietary and housekeeping staff, lab techs and other employees. seiu helped us understand how we could do more by speaking with one voice and standing together for our families and our patients. seiu respected our intelligence and our ability to make our own decisions.
you say you stand for democracy. but then you come in with a goal of destroying our campaign without ever asking us what we think about seiu and our agreement for fair election ground rules—ground rules we now understand you have made use of many times in california.
you say you stand for justice. but then you deny us our opportunity for a fair vote free of misleading propaganda and scare tactics.
our efforts to unite for better jobs and health care were not a secret. at any time during those three years you could have come and presented your union, compared yourself to seiu, and asked us to make a choice. but you didn’t. so it is obvious to us that your sole intention was to destroy what we have built. what kind of organization sets out to destroy the efforts of the very people you claim to stand for, and then tries to pretend it’s a moral cause?
here in ohio, union organizers and representatives don’t behave the way yours do. they show respect for hard-working people. we have read all the words about how you try to justify this, but when compared to the needs of our families and the needs of our patients, they show a complete disregard for basic fairness and decency. you have brought harm to thousands of workers and families in ohio, and you should be ashamed of what you have done.
Get over yourself 1199. SEIU didn't have the backing on the ground and your 'partner' pulled out. Quit trying to shuffle blame, look yourself in the mirror and figure out how to be more desirable next time.
Do you have facts to back up that statement? If those employees (not just nurses) didn't want a union--or wanted a union--they lost the opportunity to voice their opinion in a free and fair election.
Again--there's no justification for the action of CNA/NNOC...none...nada....
Support would be 30% of 8000 signed cards. 2400 workers who wanted SEIU representation. Where are they?
Look at the actual actions. The employer and SEIU cancelled the elections. It was SEIU who wouldn't even fight for you when it came to having an election. Why would you think that they would fight for you when you had a real problem with the boss?
here are excerpts from an article in the st. louis post-dispatch of march 20th. the issues of genuine democracy we raise go far beyond us or a few dissidents in california. they represent a growing revolt within seiu.
service workers union clashes over local, national interests
washington — a behind-the-scenes battle between centralized union power and the grass-roots voices of workers is raging, and the outcome could help determine the fate of the american labor movement.
it's taking place within the nation's fastest-growing union — the 1.9-million-member service employees international union — but the questions being raised about union democracy and how a struggling labor movement can survive are sparking a broader discussion within labor.
with 175,000 service employees members in missouri and illinois, the two states are key battlegrounds in the struggle, which centers on the leadership of union president andy stern. one of the country's most dynamic yet controversial labor leaders, stern believes...
Get over yourself 1199. SEIU didn't have the backing on the ground and your 'partner' pulled out. Quit trying to shuffle blame, look yourself in the mirror and figure out how to be more desirable next time.
Support would be 30% of 8000 signed cards. 2400 workers who wanted SEIU representation. Where are they?
Look at the actual actions. The employer and SEIU cancelled the elections. It was SEIU who wouldn't even fight for you when it came to having an election. Why would you think that they would fight for you when you had a real problem with the boss?
There are other ways to form a union--and this was one of them. The point was to avoid the ugliness as much as possible to get to an election. But, CNA provided the ugliness. There's no 'back door deal'---that's just the propaganda used by CNA to justify their union busting.
SEIU has fought for us--has represented us very well. Again, that's experience talking, not misinformation, innuendo, propaganda. I think what CNA did in this case was an embarrassment and if I were a dues-paying CNA member, I'd want some answers, not justifications.
Scabs and thugs? I think not. CNA/NNOC went to Ohio and educated RNs about the company-union deal that SEIU/Andy Stern made with CHP. About what their future would be like with a company union. Then SEIU/CHP cancelled the election, because they were afraid of the results they would have with an informed (instead of the uninformed, and gagged--as in not allowed to even discuss the union) group of voters.
You are SO wrong!! If CNA truly wanted to educate the nurses, they would've been there 3 weeks before, not 3 days before. Their goal was to confuse and alarm the workers.
This campaign started 10 years ago. It was no big secret. CNA organizers actually went to patient care areas--totally an illegal labor practice.
The election was canceled at the last minute because CNA had disrupted the process for a free and fair election. They are an embarrassment to organized labor.
"the point was to avoid the ugliness as much as possible to get to an election."
yeah, i know - democracy is such a messy business. i can really apprecite how much easier it is without it. just look at all the messiness of our presidential election. must be an easier way.
here's andy stern on union democracy (in 1997):
"the question that arises in our union and many others is whether or not the ideal of democracy and practical reality have a matchup," said andy stern, a reform-minded leader, who took office last year as the seiu's president.
he ticked off a number of reasons why union elections have their drawbacks: they politicize the union's staff, they are costly, they are distracting from the union's business and they often benefit incumbents.
"it is hard to make the argument that unions with direct elections better represent their members," said stern, whose membership takes in a large number of low-wage hospital workers, janitors and factory help.
"our members," he added, "are more concerned about being serviced. that is what i hear about."
of course, before i went into nursing, i was a dairy farmer - boy was that a long time ago! we had a different meaning of "service" there. maybe that's the one he's talking about?
This is a reference to an internal disagreement within SEIU. The intensity of our internal discussion ought to tell you something: we're an incredibly democratic organization. You don't get this level of debate in an autocratic situation.
That said, CNA's interest in promoting, parroting and referencing our internal argument is self-serving. You want to divide SEIU just like you want to divide the UAN, and the labor movement in general. A weakened labor movement is better ground for decerts and raids. The strategy is as cynical as it is unconscionable.
My objection stands. In his most recent post, Chico David continues to showcase the CNA's policy of promoting labor disunity.
Under the unelected thumb of Rose Ann DeMoro, the CNA promotes endless divisions among nurses, the labor movement and the Left in general. She drives wedges between us and seeks out opportunities to breed disunity. This is not just about the SEIU, but also the ANA, the UAN and even the AFL-CIO. It's wrong.
SEIU has fought for us--has represented us very well. Again, that's experience talking, not misinformation, innuendo, propaganda. I think what CNA did in this case was an embarrassment and if I were a dues-paying CNA member, I'd want some answers, not justifications.
Don't be confused hobbesrn. SEIU fighting for you would have meant that they were willing to do what it takes to win the hearts and minds of your coworkers. They obviously did not do that. Again where are the thousands of workers wanting SEIU to represent them?
"This is a reference to an internal disagreement within SEIU. The intensity of our internal discussion ought to tell you something: we're an incredibly democratic organization. You don't get this level of debate in an autocratic situation."
You don't get that level of debate for long at least. I'm just quoting the man's own words from a newspaper interview.
Stern is furiously trying to stifle debate, as covered pretty well in this morning San Francisco Chronicle: "Union Head Moves to Oust West Coast Dissident"
Hope this link works (again, I'm an amateur at this tech stuff)
The election was canceled at the last minute because CNA had disrupted the process for a free and fair election. They are an embarrassment to organized labor.
A few people testing a well-built house for its soundness will not cause its collapse. But if your structure is a house of cards it will fold with the slightest suggestion.
Unfortunately SEIU prepared only a house of cards for you.
Come get involved with NNOC and see what real strength for patient advocacy is.
Don't be confused hobbesrn. SEIU fighting for you would have meant that they were willing to do what it takes to win the hearts and minds of your coworkers. They obviously did not do that. Again where are the thousands of workers wanting SEIU to represent them?
SEIU did not do it's job.
Excuse me?? Who's confused? Not me--I am an RN, work for CHP, and a member of SEIU. I certainly have the personal experience to determine that SEIU has done it's job. Where are you getting your 'facts?' Personal experience or CNA?
Another example of CNA proponents ignoring facts, distorting truths and just posting rhetoric.
A few people testing a well-built house for its soundness will not cause its collapse. But if your structure is a house of cards it will fold with the slightest suggestion.
Unfortunately SEIU prepared only a house of cards for you.
Come get involved with NNOC and see what real strength for patient advocacy is.
That's a totally inappropriate comparison- especially if you've actually worked to organize a union, rather than the relatively easy work of busting a union.
We, in partnership with our union, SEIU, have worked diligently and with success to improve our working conditions and to provide excellent, safe care to our patients. We continue to work to maintain that excellence in the dynamic profession of nursing.
Obviously, you know not of what you speak. I find NNOC's actions deplorable. I would be embarrassed to be associated with them.
"the point was to avoid the ugliness as much as possible to get to an election."
yeah, i know - democracy is such a messy business. i can really apprecite how much easier it is without it. just look at all the messiness of our presidential election. must be an easier way.
here's andy stern on union democracy (in 1997):
"the question that arises in our union and many others is whether or not the ideal of democracy and practical reality have a matchup," said andy stern, a reform-minded leader, who took office last year as the seiu's president.
he ticked off a number of reasons why union elections have their drawbacks: they politicize the union's staff, they are costly, they are distracting from the union's business and they often benefit incumbents.
"it is hard to make the argument that unions with direct elections better represent their members," said stern, whose membership takes in a large number of low-wage hospital workers, janitors and factory help.
"our members," he added, "are more concerned about being serviced. that is what i hear about."
of course, before i went into nursing, i was a dairy farmer - boy was that a long time ago! we had a different meaning of "service" there. maybe that's the one he's talking about?
democracy doesn't have to be messy in an enlightened community. that's hardly an 'enlightened' comment on that quote--
Ludlow
109 Posts
Originally Posted by Ludlow
Get over yourself 1199. SEIU didn't have the backing on the ground and your 'partner' pulled out. Quit trying to shuffle blame, look yourself in the mirror and figure out how to be more desirable next time.
Support would be 30% of 8000 signed cards. 2400 workers who wanted SEIU representation. Where are they?
Look at the actual actions. The employer and SEIU cancelled the elections. It was SEIU who wouldn't even fight for you when it came to having an election. Why would you think that they would fight for you when you had a real problem with the boss?