After months and months of saying they wanted union elections held immediately at hospitals and nursing homes in California, former SEIU-UHW officials who were ousted from the union are now trying to stop 29 elections that are ready to proceed for more than 4,000 workers.
The former union officials, who were ousted last January for misusing union funds and undermining members' democratic rights, formed a group in January 2009 called the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW). NUHW filed for elections with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to "decertify" SEIU-UHW and have the workers come over to their organization. Now, they have filed unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB to get the elections stopped.
After campaigning for a year, NUHW has been unable to win support from the workers and now doesn't want to schedule elections they are highly likely to lose. SEIU-UHW is working to make sure the elections move forward quickly, saying that NUHW's arguments are spurious and lack merit. Although the NLRB, SEIU-UHW, and several of the employers have all agreed to election dates in early February, NUHW has refused to enter into the agreements.
"The NUHW hypocrisy is just unbelievable," said Gloria Antonio, a CNA at Vista Manor Nursing Center and Lifehouse in San Jose. "This is something that is very serious and they are playing games with us. If they didn't want elections, they shouldn't have filed for them in the first place. It seems like NUHW's only purpose in filing for a vote was to divide us and make us look weaker to management."
NUHW's attempt to stop elections has had the effect of angering many workers, who say they want the elections held immediately so they can vote to move forward in SEIU-UHW.
"Can we believe anything they tell us – anything at all?" said Valentine Granados, an Environmental Services worker at O'Connor Hospital, part of the Daughters of Charity system. "It is now clearer than ever that the NUHW officials will say anything and do anything if they think it will get our vote. It's time for them to get out of our facilities and out of our lives and let us continue building the strong union we need in SEIU-UHW."
Over the past two weeks, healthcare workers at the 29 California hospitals and nursing homes began seeking to move ahead with elections so they can join more than 55,000 other union members who have already chosen to stay united in SEIU rather than switch to NUHW.