Turlock, CA – Support-staff workers at Emanuel Medical Center here voted Aug. 22 to join the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West. The 265-55 vote came two weeks after the hospital’s registered nurses voted 284-4 to join the California Nurses Association. Each union will represent about 400 workers. The SEIU-UHW bargaining unit will include licensed vocational nurses, nursing assistants, respiratory therapists, patient-care technicians, housekeepers, radiology technicians, and more. Patient-care technician Martha Alvarez told the Modesto Bee that having a union would give workers a voice to get understaffing reduced and improve care. “If we have enough help with nurses and nursing assistants, if we can work with management to improve labs and imaging, the ones that win are the patients,” she said. The hospital, in California’s Central Valley, was acquired by Tenet Healthcare Corp. in 2014. Management said in a statement Aug. 23 that it “will bargain in good faith.” Read more
