Labor Leader Silent on Union-Busting in Ohio Hospitals

[unionwoman]

It is particularly troubling that President John Sweeney has only now issued a statement about the growing tension between CNA and SEIU. While Sweeney is quick to accuse the SEIU of wrongdoing at the recent Labor Notes conference, where was his public statement condemning the grotesque behavior of CNA in Ohio?

Unlike the Labor Notes gathering where the facts remain highly disputed, CNA actions in Ohio are without disagreement or debate. There is no question that their union-busting actions prevented as many of 8,000 nurses and other healthcare workers from getting a voice on job! That remains the true injustice and has yet to prompt a public condemnation from President Sweeney and the AFL-CIO. It is ridiculous to suggest that the CNA leadership and their gangs are the victims in this battle. If an apology is due, it must come from Rose Ann DeMoro and the CNA to the thousands of workers that have been silenced by these repulsive union-busting campaigns.

-Norma Amsterdam, RN and Labor Leader, SEIU member

[RN1982]

Alrighty then.

[noc4senuf]

This rant is not asking for input from the other nurses that post here and is more of a statement and trying to just stir more trouble and doesn't seem appropriate.

[RN1982]

I didn't think it was. I noticed a post a few days ago from someone who was involved in SEIU and they mentioned the same stuff about the CNA as this OP. Hmm.

[nicurn001]

as i understand it the catalyst for the present problems between cna/nnoc and the seiu is the failure of the catholic healthcare partners , nurses to have a vote to join a union .

the seiu argument is that the cna/nnoc involvement caused the vote to be cancelled .

the cna/nnoc contention is that the seiu , had agreed to a vote as the chosen union of the employers.

having read various sources ( seiu , cna/nnoc own web sites ,other blogs and newspaper reports) here is my interpretation of the events ( for what it is worth ) .

a) the seiu and catholic healthcare partners [ chp ] nurses had been trying to organize unionization for 3 years and had not been able to gain enough support for a vote .

b) the seiu agreed with the chp management to have a vote , during the time leading up to the vote , the nurse would not be able to discuss the forthcoming election , and that the only union they could vote for was the seiu .

c) the cna/nnoc sent organizers to ohio , their concern being that they felt a management union was being set up , which contravenes nlrb laws .

d) due to the intervention of the cna/nnoc , the chp management cancelled the vote .

i originally started nursing in the uk , where at that time all nurses were unionized and still are as far as i am aware .so i have no doubt of the benefits of working in a unionized environment . i also understand some of the frustrations of the nurse who identify themselves as seiu organizers and their emotional involvement in what has occurred.

but i must ask some questions :-

i) how many / what percentage of the nurses at the chp hospitals had registered their interest in union representation , prior to the employer filing for the vote ?

ii)why would you want to vote for a union , that your management is happy enough with , to file for a vote for union representation . ( i am very suspicious of a union that has to accept an agreement from management , rather than obtaining consent with enough future members ,in order to file for a vote upon future representation ) ?

iii)if chp cancelled the vote why did the seiu , not file for a vote regardless of chp's withdrawal of support for a vote. by agreeing to the vote that chp filed for , the seiu must have been confident of enough rank and file support for a positive outcome?

iv) what is the problem with cna/nnoc ( or any other union )sending organizers to the chp hospitals , the seiu would have been able to use its relationships with its local supporters to ensure a victory in a contested election .i cannot understand how any participant in the democratic process can claim to be democratic , if they wish to limit participation in a vote .

going to the op point re. what happened at the labor notes meeting ,i would direct you to http://labornotes.org/2008conferencehighlights conference-goers push for labor solidarity, rebound from disruption , article titled "conference-goers push for labor solidarity, rebound from disruption", in which the organizers of the conference give their independent opinion of the events . theirs is an unbiased opinion , they are supporters of the labor movement not the seiu or cna/nnoc .

[RN Power Ohio]

You got it almost on target I have 2 things to add:

1. CNA/NNOC already has and has had people in Ohio since 2004. CNA sent some support to assist us- all total 22 people to leaflet 9 hospitals.

2. Less than a handful -15 of 8,000 workers supported SEIU this was clear immediatly. SEIU cites an example where 100's of people held a rally in Springfield as a fact that they had support of the workers. The Springfield paper reported in 2005 that the majority of atttendees were bussed in from out of town. SEIU has the capability of producing large crowds via bus as in Michigan. If SEIU had organized workers at each of these hospitals instead of making a deal with the boss the election would not have blown to dust because 3 (each location) people handed out some flyers.

P.S. We could not even flyer Urbana and Fountain only got minimal attention because there were so few of us.

[Nurseslight]

Was it a raid?

SEIU philosophy - increase union density at all costs even if it means bellying up with the employer.

SEIU M.O. - identify a hospital system (lots of employees), crucify them with a corporate campaign, bring them to their knees, then say "lets make a deal". The "system" can't take anymore bad publicity and SEIU offers them a deal with a gag in which SEIU (members) will not speak out negatively about the employer.

This is an outrageous conflict with the nurses' professional responsibility of patient advocacy. Furthermore, discouraging (forbidding) healthcare workers from speaking out about unsafe conditions is the biggest threat to patient safety. This is a travesty, SEIU should be ashamed.

Was it a raid in Ohio or was it a RESCUE???

[HobbesRN]

this rant is not asking for input from the other nurses that post here and is more of a statement and trying to just stir more trouble and doesn't seem appropriate.

that hardly seems like a 'rant'....rather, it appears to be a statement that depicts cna as the 'union buster' it is.

here's the response by the california courts this afternoon to some of cna's histrionics:

week of 4/21 talking points on seiu and cna - updated 4/22 p.m.

on the temporary restraining order filed by cna

-a california superior court (tues. 4/22) vacated the unlawful temporary restraining order against seiu and andy stern filed last week as a publicity stunt by cna. the court had issued the tro even though seiu and andy stern had no notice or an opportunity to be heard in court. the decision came after seiu presented the court on mon. 4/21 with video footage of the innocuous events that cna has falsely characterized as "harassment" and also after seiu filed an anti-strategic lawsuit to prevent public participation (slapp) motion against the cna to prevent cna from further efforts to silence critics of its divisive tactics.

-background: in obtaining the tro, cna falsely characterized efforts by workers to engage with cna leadership over the union's anti-union tactics as "harassment." video footage shows that what the cna called "5 male staffers harassing cna board members" was actually a nonunion registered nurse and respiratory therapist - two middle-aged women - from ohio going door-to-door to try to speak to cna leadership. (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngw2qjtgw4i). these two female healthcare workers were engaging in the same kind of door to door canvassing that they have previously engaged in as volunteers for charitable organizations such as the leukemia fund and candidates for political office.

[HobbesRN]

Was it a raid?

SEIU philosophy - increase union density at all costs even if it means bellying up with the employer.

SEIU M.O. - identify a hospital system (lots of employees), crucify them with a corporate campaign, bring them to their knees, then say "lets make a deal". The "system" can't take anymore bad publicity and SEIU offers them a deal with a gag in which SEIU (members) will not speak out negatively about the employer.

This is an outrageous conflict with the nurses' professional responsibility of patient advocacy. Furthermore, discouraging (forbidding) healthcare workers from speaking out about unsafe conditions is the biggest threat to patient safety. This is a travesty, SEIU should be ashamed.

Was it a raid in Ohio or was it a RESCUE???

WHO did they rescue? Certainly not the 5,000 non-RN employees of CHP!

They prevented over 8.000 CHP employees from having their say in a free and fair election---

SEIU is a social union, concerned with, among other social issues, 'nurses professional responsibility of patient advocacy'.....to say that they are not demonstrates, at best, lack of information. I can address this with knowledge and experience, as I am an RN, patient advocate, nurse advocate, AND SEIU member....

Open your mind and check it out: http://www.shameoncna.com/

[RN Power Ohio]

Hardly as cut and dry as you might like to make it seem:

http://www.calnurses.org/assets/pdf/support_letter_mna.pdf

As a victim of violence inflicted upon me personally by SEIU on at least 2 seperate occasions in the past 60 days I can tell you- I will be seeking my own restraining order against SEIU!

[RN Power Ohio]

if this discussion is to get anywhere there needs to be a true debate of the issues! rather than name calling why is seiu not taking advantage of the many, many opportunities to discuss and debate the issue. there were many people who wanted to hear the chp nurses story at labor notes but this was not possible because of the behavior of seiu. most who were on seiu's side were turned away because of the of the complete lack of respect demonstrated towards all labor leaders and activists at this conference.

the future of the labor movement? reflections on the labor notes conference

by stephanie luce

monthly review

april 22, 2008

[color=firebrick]"i wonder if seiu has lost sight of the real battle. it is ironic how they seem happy to sign partnership deals in peace with the employers, and save their yelling and disruption for a random group of union members who get together on a saturday morning in detroit to talk about labor and politics."

http://www.calnurses.org/media-center/in-the-news/2008/april/the-future-of-the-labor-movement-reflections-on-the-labor-notes-conference-1.html

perhaps you are not aware of the bigger picture- the all important discussion of rm petitions and the proposed nlrb rule change allowing rj petition and the return of the company union!

[HobbesRN]

Hardly as cut and dry as you might like to make it seem:

http://www.calnurses.org/assets/pdf/support_letter_mna.pdf

As a victim of violence inflicted upon me personally by SEIU on at least 2 seperate occasions in the past 60 days I can tell you- I will be seeking my own restraining order against SEIU!

Here's another point of view-- and this isn't the perspective of the CHP nurses who were illegally approached by CNA operatives on the premises of their employers in Ohio. That's a whole other story!

CNA has distorted the facts and employed fear tactics in their campaign to smear SEIU in Ohio:

Week of 4/21 Talking Points on SEIU and CNA - Updated 4/22 p.m.

On Labor Notes protest

• CNA has decried the "violent" protest led by SEIU at a conference held by Labor Notes in Dearborn, Michigan on 4/12. A brief and spontaneous scuffle did take place between SEIU protestors trying to enter the hotel - mostly female homecare workers who are SEIU members -- and conference organizers trying to keep them out. Contrary to the CNA's description of what happened, many of the SEIU protestors were being pushed, shoved, and even assaulted by conference marshals. Any allegation that SEIU instructed protesters to engage in any acts of violence or threats of violence is completely false and baseless.

• Background: Photos on the CNA and Labor Notes websites and even a video assembled by CNA offered as "evidence" of violence by protestors actually depict the peaceful protestors under attack by conference security. A Dearborn police sergeant told a blogger: "'It's definitely been blown way out of proportion, he said. 'Once police arrived, they left without any problem... It was done within minutes, and I don't know why it's been blown out of proportion as it has.'"

On raiding

• Currently, CNA is raiding SEIU registered nurse members at public hospitals in California, and SEIU registered nurse members in Catholic Healthcare West-owned hospitals in Las Vegas (election 5/6-7) in addition to sabotaging in March the opportunity for more than 8,000 registered nurses and other hospital workers in Ohio to choose whether to form a union with SEIU.
  
  
• The CNA is also raiding an AFSCME-affiliated hospital in Houston, Texas and has mailed union "decertification" cards to nurses in multiple states where SEIU and other unions already represent registered nurses.
  
• CNA has engaged in the pattern and practice of raiding already-represented union hospitals or otherwise disrupting legitimate organizing by other unions in many states for years.

More information: www.ShameOnCNA.com

I'm sure there are plenty of nurses who could benefit from CNA's agenda---so, why don't they do the work of organizing those nurses instead of degrading the work done by other organizations and attempting to deprive other workers of their right to union representation?? These professionals don't need to be 'rescued', as CNA purports...it's just far easier to DESTRUCT rather than CONSTRUCT!