Two weeks after filing for a union election among 46,000 Kaiser workers in California, the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) refused to sign an agreement that would allow the election to go forward in the next 60 days.
“What kind of nonsense is this? First NUHW says they want an election, putting our contract guarantees at risk, and then they won't agree to hold it”
At a hearing before a National Labor Relations Board hearing officer, members of the Service Employees International Union - United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) readily agreed to hold the election as soon as possible and signed an election agreement. But NUHW officials stalled for nearly five hours and then refused to sign before leaving the NLRB offices in downtown Oakland. The board then strongly indicated they would dismiss the election petition if NUHW doesn't sign the agreement by July 22.
"What kind of nonsense is this? First NUHW says they want an election, putting our contract guarantees at risk, and then they won't agree to hold it," said Lester Katz, a Diagnostic Imaging Technician at Kaiser Baldwin Park. "Workers just want them out of Kaiser and out of our lives so we can move forward."
The election, which would be the biggest among private sector workers in 70 years, would give Kaiser employees the option of remaining in SEIU-UHW or moving into NUHW. The workers recently settled a contract with Kaiser that provides 9 percent in raises, maintains the workers' fully employer-paid family healthcare, and includes job security guarantees. That contract would have to be re-bargained if workers vote to switch unions, and the gains they recently achieved would be in jeopardy.
"Our contract is too important for us to put our raises, our healthcare, and our job security at risk on a group like NUHW that is willing to play these kinds of games with our future," said Silvia Gomez, a Medical Assistant at Kaiser Stockton.
NUHW is a union started by former SEIU-UHW officials, including former President Sal Rosselli, who were removed from office for misusing millions in members' dues money and violating members' democratic rights. In April, a federal jury found that they had misused union money for their own purposes and tried to sabotage SEIU-UHW's ability to represent workers and ordered NUHW, Rosselli, and more than two dozen others to pay $1.57 million in damages to SEIU-UHW members.
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