SAN JOSE/GILROY, CA - In union elections at two Daughters of Charity Health Systems facilities - O'Connor Hospital in San Jose and Saint Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy - more than 600 caregivers resoundingly voted to keep their union - the Service Employees International Union - United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW). The vote is another rejection of the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), the group started by ousted SEIU-UHW President Sal Rosselli and other former union officials.
"Finally, we can move on from this NUHW distraction and get back to taking care of patients and building a better future," said Jaime Avelar, a food service assistant at St. Louise Regional Hospital.
The members at Saint Louise and O'Connor overwhelmingly chose to stay united in SEIU-UHW. At St. Louise the vote was 96 to 72 in favor of SEIU-UHW in an election that NUHW had made its top priority. However, NUHW, knowing they lost by more than 2-to-1 at O'Connor, has sought to delay defeat, by filing frivolous charges to have the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) impound the results.
"The truth will come out - it's only a matter of time. We don't want NUHW here and our ballots will show that just as soon as the NLRB let's them be counted," said Gregg Woods, an environmental services worker at O'Connor Hospital. "NUHW can stall but the truth will find them and we will get past this threat to our union and the quality of care we deliver."
Earlier this year, NUHW was rejected by more than 950 caregivers at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood - also, part of the Daughters of Charity Health System.
Over the past eight weeks, more than 4,900 workers in 45 facilities have reaffirmed SEIU-UHW as their union. Since Rosselli and the others were removed from union office 16 months ago, 71,336 SEIU-UHW members have chosen to stay in SEIU-UHW - more than 96% of the members who have faced an election.
Beyond these losses, NUHW has been facing unprecedented setbacks on multiple fronts in recent weeks. In May, Rosselli faced a second major loss in federal court, when a federal judge removed him and four of his top assistants from a $20 million union education fund they illegally tried to maintain control of even after they were removed from office. In April, a Federal jury held the union and many of its officers and staff liable for $1.5 million in damages for deliberately sabotaging SEIU-UHW members as they were removed from SEIU-UHW and formed their new union. NUHW's recently filed annual financial disclosure indicates that they were $1.5 million in debt even before the judgment.
Rather than face defeat, NUHW is still desperately trying to stop elections at Sutter Solano Medical Center in Vallejo and Centinela Hospital in Inglewood, among others.
For more information, or to talk to workers involved, please contact Adriana Surfas at 510.869.2246 or asurfas@seiu-uhw.org.
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 2.2 million-member Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the nation's fastest-growing union. Learn more at www.seiu-uhw.org.
Source: SEIU-UHW