California Nurses Association Campaigns to Deny Union

• In February 2008, after a more than three-year effort, fair and ethical ground rules were agreed to by workers organizing with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and Catholic Healthcare Partners (CHP). These ground rules provided for a fair and democratic vote on unionization by 8,000 employees at 9 CHP hospitals in Ohio.
• Just days before hospital workers were about to realize their dreams and vote in National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)-supervised union elections on March 12 and 14, California Nurses Association (CNA) organizers descended upon the hospitals, waging an aggressive and misleading anti-union campaign urging them to vote "no."
• CNA is an affiliate of the AFL-CIO. AFL-CIO officials refused to intervene to stop CNA's campaign, which closely resembled typical union-busting campaigns normally waged by employers.
• After it became clear that a free and fair vote was no longer possible, workers temporarily called off their elections to join District 1199 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
• Workers are appealing to other unions and their communities for help in stopping the CNA's destructive campaign, and hope to be able to re-schedule fair elections in the future.

Healthcare Employees' Campaign for Fair Union Organizing Rules
Fall 2004
CHP hospital employees in Springfield turn to SEIU for help in forming a union. They reach out to other CHP hospital employees around the state to join the effort.

2005-2007
More than a hundred registered nurses and other hospital workers come to Cincinnati from all over Ohio in April 2005 and adopt a plan to campaign for fair union organizing rules. Hundreds of Ohio healthcare workers continue to join with SEIU members, leaders and staff in the campaign to form their union. As part of their efforts, the workers:
• Signed letters to hospital CEOs and religious sponsors and paid visits to hospital board members.
• Contributed their quotes and photos in mailings to their communities.
• Knocked on thousands of doors and made thousands of phone calls to try to get a Hospital Accountability Commission passed in Springfield, Ohio.
• Made their case for fair union organizing rules with elected officials, Catholic and other community leaders.
• Met with priests, bishops and women religious and went to a conference of the Catholic Health Association to try to get support for their cause; and
• Signed letters and petitions saying they wanted to unite in SEIU.

Late 2007
SEIU and CHP begin to discuss ways to create a truly fair process for employees to choose whether to form a union. They come up with a set of indisputably fair and ethical ground rules that guarantee an honest debate and give workers the space to make their own decision without undue influence from either side. In December, a pilot NLRB election is held at one hospital in Lorain, Ohio. Some units voted for union representation, some do not. Hospital employees and
supervisors confirm that the ground rules were highly effective in allowing employees to freely make a choice about union representation, without undue influence from either side, and without the tension or conflict that typically accompanies an organizing campaign.

February 2008
SEIU and CHP agree to elections with ground rules at nine hospitals in Cincinnati, Lima, and Springfield. The NLRB elections are scheduled for March 12 and March 14.

March 6, 2008
Days before the elections, CNA organizers from out-of-state sneaked into hospitals posing as visitors and accosted workers. Workers are subjected to untruthful accusations and bombarded with anti-union leaflets, mail, and phone calls urging them to vote "no." CNA's false allegations created confusion and fear among registered nurses as well as other employees at CHP hospitals.

March 11, 2008
After it becomes clear that a free and fair vote is no longer possible, workers temporarily call off the elections scheduled for March 12 and March 14.

Fair Union Organizing Rules
The ground rules negotiated by CHP and SEIU are ethical, principled and fair. They were designed to put the interests of workers first, not the union or employer. They call for quick elections without delays, equal access to information from both sides, and guidelines to ensure honest discourse.
CHP nurses and other hospital employees made their choice to unite in SEIU years ago. SEIU made a formal "demand for recognition" based on majority support among CHP employees, a common practice by unions in organizing campaigns. After three years of CHP workers' sending letters to CHP officials, mobilizing community support, and campaigning for fair organizing rules, workers had a clear showing of interest to form a union with SEIU.
As is usually the case in this kind of situation, CHP responded to the demand for recognition by calling for elections to be held and filing a petition (called an "RM" petition) with the federal government’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). That set in motion the NLRB elections that were scheduled for March 12 and 14.
CNA has misled those unfamiliar with labor law and union organizing with a charge of "company unionism." If CHP were trying to set up a "company union" they would have agreed to the demand for recognition and there never would have been an election scheduled.
Showing up a week before the elections did not entitle CNA to be on the ballot. They would have needed just one card to appear on the ballot but failed to produce one. They chose instead to mislead nurses into thinking that a "no" vote would automatically result in a "yes" vote for the CNA.
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SEIU is the nation’s largest health care union, representing one million nurses, professionals, techs, clericals, and other service and support staff in acute care hospitals and other health care facilities throughout the nation.

Catholic Healthcare Partners is the largest health system in Ohio and operates 20 hospitals in the state. It is a faith-based institution sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy and other women religious sponsors.