Workers are voting at Sutter Lakeside Hospital in Lakeport and Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa. They also will cast votes at nursing homes Generations Pavilion and Generation Heights in Daly City.

The 700 workers at the four facilities will join more than 72,000 SEIU-UHW members who have already rejected the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), the group started by ousted SEIU-UHW President Sal Rosselli and other former union officials.

"I'm voting for SEIU-UHW so we continue to stand united," says Norma Magno, a certified nursing assistant at Generations Pavilion nursing home. "NUHW lied to me so I would sign their petition. We need a real, strong union for our job protection and that is SEIU-UHW."

A vast majority of the workers in each facility have pledged their support to SEIU-UHW. The elections roll out over the next 9 days: the two Generations homes will vote on July 27, Sutter Lakeside on July 28, and the Sutter Santa Rosa facility on August 2. SEIU-UHW expects to prevail in all of the facilities.

"If it weren't for the union I wouldn't have benefits for my family," said Jeff Berg, a housekeeping worker at Sutter Lakeside. "I really needed the benefits because my 9-year-old daughter had no medical insurance for the past two years. So we need to keep the union, SEIU-UHW, for ourselves and for the best patient care."

Another 40,000 Kaiser hospital workers are also expected to vote for their union representative soon. Despite petitioning for the election in June, NUHW is now stalling the process, refusing to sign the paperwork that would set the election in motion.