Healthcare workers in Northern California prefer to stay with SEIU-UHW

This week, healthcare workers in two nursing homes and two hospitals in Northern California all chose to stay with their current union, the Service Employees International Union -United Healthcare Workers, West (SEIU-UHW).

“This is wonderful. NUHW gave up and is finally gone from our hospital. Now we can focus on our work and our patients. Soon NUHW will be gone from all our Sutter facilities!”

The 700 workers at the four facilities brings to more than 73,000 the number of 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.

Workers at nursing homes Generations Pavilion and Generation Heights in Daly City voted on Tuesday, July 27 to stay with SEIU-UHW by an overwhelming margin (148 for SEIU-UHW to 43 for NUHW. The election at the two Daly City nursing homes came at a particularly important moment because workers there are about to negotiate a new contract.

"Nobody can stand in the way of our moving forward in our upcoming negotiations. Now we are united in our real union and will get results," said Eduardo Catindig, a Certified Nursing Assistant at Generations Pavilion nursing home.

Workers at Sutter Lakeside Hospital in Lakeport and Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa were both scheduled to vote for their union representative, however NUHW, facing certain defeat, pulled out of the election at the last minute. Workers at the Sutter hospitals are celebrating the fact that NUHW's defeat means that the excellent contract they worked hard to win is secure.

"This is wonderful. NUHW gave up and is finally gone from our hospital. Now we can focus on our work and our patients. Soon NUHW will be gone from all our Sutter facilities!" said Jesus Morales, an environmental services worker at Sutter Santa Rosa Medical Center.

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.