St. Rose Dominican Nurses Want to Join CNA/NNOC, Reject Service Employees
Union by 53%
LAS VEGAS, May 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Registered nurses at three St. Rose
Dominican hospitals in Henderson and Las Vegas early Thursday cast a strong
vote to join the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing
Committee and leave behind their current representative, the Service
Employees International Union Local 1107.
In a three-way race, 400 RNs voted for CNA/NNOC, with 377 voting for
SEIU Local 1107 and 26 opting for no union. With six challenged ballots
still in dispute, a runoff may still be avoided.
But with 53 percent of the RNs voting to reject Local 1107, CNA/NNOC
leaders today called on SEIU to withdraw. The election, conducted by the
National Labor Relations Board, affects 1,100 RNs at the Siena and Rose de
Lima campuses in Henderson and the San Martin facility in Las Vegas.
"St. Rose Dominican RNs have made it clear that they want a change,"
said Zenei Cortez, RN, member of the CNA/NNOC Council of Presidents. "They
want and deserve a more effective voice to advocate for their patients and
to achieve the standards they have seen won by their colleagues in
CNA/NNOC."
"The nurses have spoken and SEIU should respect their decision," said
Cortez. "SEIU should step aside and allow the St. Rose Dominican RNs to
negotiate improved pay, pensions and medical benefits without further
delay."
The RNs voting to leave SEIU Local 1107 said they were tired of
substandard representation and an inferior contract, and wished to be a
part of CNA/NNOC, the nation's largest organization of RNs, and its track
record of landmark achievements for nurses and patient protections.
St. Rose Dominican RNs also called the vote an emphatic repudiation of
a union with all the advantages and record of incumbency, and a clear
indication that SEIU's time is up.
"We want to take our union back," said Melanie Sisson, RN. "[SEIU
President] Andy Stern's agenda does not address any of the nurses' issues.
All he wants to do is grow his members and not provide the services we need
to help nurses' professional practice. SEIU is interested in running a
top-down organization where they're like the boss."
"At first I was very reluctant to meet with NNOC because I was with
SEIU. But all it took was three membership meetings with NNOC to convince
me I was with the wrong union," said Rowena Smith, RN.
"We accomplished so much in just 10 weeks, it's exciting," said Alaiyo
Taylor, RN.
Once the final outcome is determined, the RNs said they are confident
they will join with 10,500 other RNs represented by CNA/NNOC at 27 other
hospitals which, like St. Rose Dominican, are part of the Catholic
Healthcare West system.
They will also join Nevada RNs from Saint Mary's Regional Medical
Center in Reno, another CHW hospital, where nurses voted to join CNA/NNOC
in December and are currently making rapid progress on negotiating their
first contract.
Just as the Reno election was a significant factor in the Las Vegas
vote, other Nevada RNs have been monitoring the campaign at St. Rose
Dominican, and many are already in contact with CNA/NNOC about also
joining, citing similar displeasure with SEIU contracts and a desire for
more effective representation.
Under their SEIU contract, St. Rose RNs fell up to 263 percent behind
CNA/NNOC contracts in monthly pension benefits and 25 percent behind hourly
pay rates at comparable CHW hospitals in San Bernardino, Calif., even
though the cost of living in San Bernardino is 4.5 percent lower than in
Las Vegas.
Local 1107 has also been the subject of substantial controversy that
includes a Department of Labor investigation into charges that the local
used employer funds and money from an Ohio SEIU local to rig an election of
local leadership, as well as other practices that many RNs say reflect an
undemocratic leadership.
SEIU nurses in many other states have also been chafing under SEIU
representation and looking for change.
"This historic vote is a window to a rebellion brewing among SEIU
nurses across the nation who are fed up with a union that cares more about
shady deals with employers than in securing a strong, effective voice for
nurses and patients," said CNA/NNOC Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro.
DeMoro said that CNA/NNOC has been receiving cards, calls, and e-mails
from SEIU RNs from coast to coast seeking a way they can also leave SEIU
and join the national nurses' movement that CNA/NNOC is leading.
CNA/NNOC has grown by more than 375 percent the past dozen years and
now has 80,000 members overall from coast to coast. CNA/NNOC is also the
largest organization in Catholic hospitals across the U.S. representing
18,000 RNs in 38 Catholic hospitals.
SOURCE California Nurses Association; National Nurses Organizing
Committee
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Related links:
http://www.calnurses.org
CONTACT:
Fernando Losada, +1-818-652-9251, or David
Johnson, +1-310-345-8237, or Charles Idelson, +1-510-273-2246, or
Liz Jacobs, +1-510-435-7674, all of California Nurses
Association\National Nurses Organizing Committee
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