EMERYVILLE, CA - More than 1,000 workers from 50 California nursing homes signed a letter delivered to the former officials of their union with a plain message: Get out of our facilities and stop putting our future and our union at risk.
The workers, members of the Service Employees International Union - United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), delivered the letter Monday to former union President Sal Rosselli, who along with the other former officials were ousted from the union more than a year ago for misusing millions in union funds and violating members' democratic rights.
After being kicked out of SEIU-UHW, the ousted officials formed an organization called the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW). Shortly afterward NUHW filed petitions with the National Labor Relations Board seeking to "decertify" SEIU-UHW by holding elections to move the workers to their group.
NUHW has refused to cancel the election petitions despite the fact that more than 70 percent of the workers in the nursing homes have signed statements in support of SEIU-UHW and want NUHW to leave them alone. Now, some nursing home employers are using the opportunity to try to convince workers to give up their union entirely.
In their letter to Rosselli, the members wrote (click here to view the full letter): "It was only a matter of time before your decision to file election petitions put our union and our future at risk. Now, some employers are looking to take advantage of the situation by trying to bust our union altogether. You know full well that there is very little support for NUHW in our facilities. By continuing to pursue these elections you are doing management's work for them."
The workers' letter concludes: "If you don't [withdraw your election petition], and our employers continue their anti-union campaigns and we lose our union, the blame for destroying our future will be on your hands. The time has come for you to do the right thing for workers."
Since being ousted from SEIU-UHW, representatives from NUHW have systematically tried to divide workers, interfere in contract negotiations, and create problems in hospitals and nursing homes across California.
Despite NUHW's attempts to distract SEIU-UHW members, healthcare workers have successfully negotiated new contracts covering more than 68 hospitals and nursing homes in the past year, with wage increases for the first year of the contract nearly double that of the national average.
Contact: Adriana Surfas, 510-869-2246
SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West (SEIU-UHW) is the largest hospital and healthcare union in the western United States with more than 150,000 members. We unite every type of healthcare worker with a mission to achieve high-quality healthcare for all. SEIU-UHW is part of the 2.1 million-member Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the nation's fastest-growing union. Learn more at www.seiu-uhw.org.
Source: SEIU-UHW
