SEIU Vote at Ohio Catholic Healthcare Partners

GypsyOrchid · Mar 10, 2008

ohio rns are being denied a choice for union representation

nine hospitals operated by catholic healthcare partners in ohio are delivering their registered nurses to the service employees international union (seiu) by holding uncontested union elections on march 12-14.

these rns did not ask to be represented by seiu. they did not even know an election was being held until two weeks ago when they received a letter signed by both hospital management and the union. the nurses are not being given the opportunity to choose a professional nurses' union, such as the ohio nurses association, which would truly represent their interests. less than 2% of seiu members are rns.

suggested message

to: catholic health association, u.s. conference of catholic bishops there is a crisis in the state of ohio that demands your attention. the registered nurses at nine ohio hospitals, operated by the catholic healthcare partners, are in effect being forced into the service employees international union, a trade union that will not adequately represent their interests. they did not ask to be represented by this union and are not being given the opportunity to choose a professional nurses' union. the nurses at these hospitals did not even know there would be a union election until two weeks ago, when they received a letter signed by the chp and seiu. less than 2% of seiu members are registered nurses. rns unionize to improve patient care through contracts that ensure safe staffing and promote recruitment and retention of nurses. to achieve these goals, they need a professional nurses' union. as organizations that support the rights of workers across the world, i find it hard to believe that the catholic health association or the u.s. conference of catholic bishops would support this plan. i urge you to use your voice and your influence to allow the registered nurses in ohio to have a genuine choice about who represents them. [/b]ohio rns are being denied a choice for union representation

help protect the rights of ohio rns to choose the union that will best represent them. the accompanying message can be used in e-mails of support.

copy (or cut and paste) the suggested message content for your correspondence, and customize as desired. the messages will be forwarded to the catholic health association, the u.s. conference of catholic bishops, and ohio nurses.

please spread the word! we have only a few short days to turn this around!

Julia RN · Mar 10, 2008

"help protect the rights of ohio rns to choose the union that will best represent them. the accompanying message can be used in e-mails of support.

copy (or cut and paste) the suggested message content for your correspondence, and customize as desired. the messages will be forwarded to the catholic health association, the u.s. conference of catholic bishops, and ohio nurses. "

was there a link to a site to do this from or an email address to send the message to?

GypsyOrchid · Mar 10, 2008

"help protect the rights of ohio rns to choose the union that will best represent them. the accompanying message can be used in e-mails of support.
copy (or cut and paste) the suggested message content for your correspondence, and customize as desired. the messages will be forwarded to the catholic health association, the u.s. conference of catholic bishops, and ohio nurses. "
was there a link to a site to do this from or an email address to send the message to?

hi,

yes, nysna is collecting the emails and fowarding them. you can email

[email protected]

pickledpepperRN · Mar 10, 2008

CHP has adopted a strategy to silence RNs and deny you a democratic choice.

CHP has signed an illegal back room deal with the Service Employees Union (SEIU) intended to force RNs into this non-RN union.

The elections scheduled for March 12-14 will not give you a choice of a professional nurses union....

... The only union CHP is letting you vote for is the union hand-picked by Catholic Healthcare Partners, the non-RN Service Employees Union. Millions of Ohioans had a choice of Presidential candidates to vote for

on March 4.

Why shouldn't Ohio RNs have a choice of which union you want to represent you?CHP RNs deserve a REAL choice.

CHP RNs deserve to decide for yourselves what union you want to represent you, not have your union hand-picked by your employer. Why should the hospital choose YOUR union?

CHP RNs deserve to be part of a professional RN union, not a Service Employees union.

http://www.calnurses.org/nnoc/ohio/rns-for-democracy/

Some Facts: http://www.calnurses.org/nnoc/ohio/rns-for-democracy/facts.html

Julia RN · Mar 10, 2008

The thread from the Ohio forum and this one should be merged, no?

I didn't see the thread in the Ohio forum when I started this one, and don't want to be repetitive.

TY

Julia RN · Mar 10, 2008

Does anyone know where the Ohio Nurses Association stands on this? Don't see anything on their website.

Did CNA introduce the staffing ratio legislation in Ohio, yet?

GypsyOrchid · Mar 10, 2008

does anyone know where the ohio nurses association stands on this? don't see anything on their website.
did cna introduce the staffing ratio legislation in ohio, yet?

http://www.ohnurses.org/am/template.cfm?section=news&template=/cm/contentdisplay.cfm&contentid=2383

ohio rns are being denied a choice for union representation

nurses rely on the ohio nurses association for guidance, strength, protection and promotion of their profession at the workplace, and ona is deeply committed to their economic and general welfare.

ona is not only the premier professional association for ohio's registered nurses, it is also the union for the thousands of nurses who have chosen ona for representation through its economic & general welfare program. nurse educators, health care researchers, and other scholars recognize the important role unions can play in advancing professional nursing and improving patient care, as do the members of the ohio nurses association. that is why so many of them have opted to organize for collective bargaining.

nine hospitals operated by catholic healthcare partners in ohio are allowing the service employees international union (seiu) to hold uncontested union elections on march 12-14.

the rns at these hospitals did not ask to be represented by seiu. they did not even know an election was being held until two weeks ago when they received a letter signed by both hospital management and the union. the nurses are not being given the opportunity to choose a professional nurses' union, such as the ohio nurses association, which would truly represent their interests.

help protect the rights of ohio rns to choose the union that will best represent them by supporting us in our effort to allow rns in ohio to have an actual choice about who represents them. if you would like additional information about this issue or how you can help, please contact brett anderson, economic & general welfare program director, at 614-448-1021 or [email protected]. thank you for your support!

Julia RN · Mar 10, 2008

Thanks.

I'd missed the article on ONA.

Some of the workers must have asked for SEIU for management to have agreed to be neutral, no?

One of the articles in my original post states it was a group of nurses another article doesn't specify but says a group of 45 workers asked

for SEIU. It's also reported that each group of workers (six classifications- registered nurses, professionals, technical staff, clerical staff, maintenance workers and support workers) will vote separately to determine whether they will be represented by SEIU.

Too bad one of the nurses unions can't be on the ballot for the RNs. I wonder if they have tried or why they can't try now. I know it was short notice that the election was going to happen, but this has clearly been brewing for several years.

pickledpepperRN · Mar 10, 2008

RNs Denounce Sham Election in Nine Ohio Hospitals,

Hospital Chain Seeks to Impose Hand-Picked Union

The nation's largest organization of registered nurses today denounced what it called undemocratic sham union elections scheduled this week at nine hospitals in Cincinnati, Springfield, and Lima.

The hospitals are part of the Catholic Healthcare Partners chain which petitioned for a federal labor board election following a secret deal with the Service Employees International Union that would impose SEIU as the company's hand-picked union for 8,000 RNs and other hospital employees....

http://www.calnurses.org/media-center/press-releases/2008/march/rns-denounce-sham-election-in-nine-ohio-hospitals-hospital-chain-seeks-to-impose-hand-picked-union.html

RATIO PETITION:

http://www.calnurses.org/nnoc/ohio/ohio_ratios_signup.pdf

OHIO page:

http://www.calnurses.org/nnoc/ohio/

RNadvocate · Mar 10, 2008

hey all. things in ohio are really bad for rns. i've been doing my home work and here's what i have come up with.

be sure to check out this article: http://www.commondreams.org/news2008/0310-09.htm

here are my thoughts:

as the health care crisis worsens and staffing levels continue to fall, all registered nurses face an important choice about the best model to improve patient care and the profession.

this choice breaks down to going down a radical path based on confrontation and a path toward building a real national nurse's union based on real partnership and cooperation.

the california nurses association/nnoc firmly believes the best way to improve nursing is to lead nurses down a path to radical conflicts with their hospitals.

strikes

despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of rns believe that strikes should only be called in the most dire of circumstances, the cna regularly takes nurses out on strike.

radical politics

when the x number of uninsured had an opportunity to get health care coverage in california, the cna blocked the effort because the program was not close enough to the single payer health coverage model favored by countries like cuba.

in 2000 the cna endorsed ralph nader for president. nader was, and is, a marginal political figure with no real hope of being in any elected position to advocate for nursing issues.

non-union is better than non-cna

there are currently 100,000 non-union nurses in ca. despite this being the most logical place for the cna to organize, they have spent thousands of dollars in rns' dues to disrupt nurses' organizing efforts around the country.

cna organizers have worked to stop rns from organizing with any other union in ohio, st. louis, chicago, reno, and memphis. this has left thousands of rns without a professional organization or an ability to bargain for improvements.

focus on breaking up existing rn organizations rather than uniting non-union rns

rather than focusing on uniting more non-union rns the cna has chosen to break up and take over existing rn organizations.

in chicago, cook county hospital rns were lured away from the illinois nurses' association with promises of california style wages and staffing ratios. the cna deducted dues before they had a contract and was unable to make any significant gains in wages or staffing.

no plan to protect the entire patient care team

most rns believe that relying on registered nurses to do total care limits the amount of time rns can devote to the care and education of their patients.

despite this, the cna has time and time again left rns in a position where their ancillary staff could be taken away from them.

having no plan to protect ancillary staff could require rns to do housekeeping work or commit to extra hours to fill in the gaps.

top down leadership

rather than building a team of nation rn leaders, in the media all we ever hear from is cna executive director rose ann demoro. if the cna truly believes that rns can speak for themselves, why is the director of the organization the only person who speaks on behalf of the cna?

partnership is bad, except for when it's with us

in numerous places around the country when rns reach agreements with their employers for a fair process by which rns can decide for themselves whether to form a union or not, the cna has worked to block rns from taking advantage of these opportunities.

once these agreements are significantly disrupted the cna will seek exactly the same rules to run their own campaigns.

pickledpepperRN · Mar 10, 2008

SEIU Voice

This website was created by members of SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West (UHW) to provide a source of information to the public about our efforts to get our national union, SEIU, back on the right path.

http://www.seiuvoice.org/