Dispute Heats Up Between SEIU, CNA Over Elections In Ohio, Las Vegas Hospitals
By Staff
Bureau of National Affairs
April 15, 2008
A dispute between the Service Employees International Union and the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee has escalated in recent days with each union making accusations against the other.
The latest war of words involves an SEIU demonstration April 12 during a national labor conference in Dearborn, Mich., convened by the nonprofit group that publishes Labor Notes. The theme of this year's conference, attended by about 1,000 labor activists, was "rebuilding labor's power."
CNA/NNOC has accused SEIU staff and members of "physically assaulting" members of other unions attending the conference who stood in their path as they tried to enter a banquet hall. SEIU, however, responded that its members held a "peaceful protest" at the conference aimed at expressing their displeasure with CNA Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro, who was scheduled to address the banquet. Prior to the conference, DeMoro had cancelled plans to speak.
The dispute between the two unions is over representation of registered nurses in Ohio and Nevada. Representation elections at nine Catholic Healthcare Partners facilities in Ohio among some 8,000 health care workers were cancelled March 11 after CNA/NNOC began distributing leaflets to CHP workers, accusing the hospital system and SEIU of having reached an illegal, "back room" deal that CNA/NNOC said compromises workers' rights (48 DLR A-15, 3/12/08 ).
CNA/NNOC Files NLRB Petitions for SEIU Units
In Las Vegas, CNA/NNOC has filed representation petitions with the National Labor Relations Board for elections at three St. Rose Dominican hospitals where SEIU currently represents some 1,100 RNs. Elections have been scheduled for May 6-7 at the Siena, San Martin, and Rose de Lima campuses of the hospitals, according to an NLRB official.
According to accounts of the Dearborn incident provided both by CNA/NNOC and Labor Notes, several bus loads of SEIU staff and members from around the country stormed the hotel where the conference was being held and "physically assaulted a group of union members and activists at the door." Upon entering the hotel, the SEIU members kicked, punched, shoved, and pushed to the floor a number of conference-goers, they asserted.
Chris Kutalik, the editor of Labor Notes, told BNA that one union member was injured when she was accidentally hit and knocked down, striking her head. Dearborn police responded and evicted the demonstrators, he added.
A CNA/NNOC press release quoted a number of CNA/NNOC members who attended the conference. Danielle Magana, a NNOC member of Texas said she was "appalled, to have a union coming in here with tons of people ramming down doors."
Malinda Markowitz, a member of CNA/NNOC's Council of Presidents, who was scheduled to speak in DeMoro's place, said she was "disgusted" with SEIU and its "total disrespect for what was going on here--members from multiple unions who were discussing an agenda to fight the increased corporate attacks on working people. It's clear their only agenda here was to disrupt and try to divide labor and workers. Physical violence is absolutely unacceptable," she said.
Protest Peaceful, SEIU Contends
SEIU, however, issued a statement April 14 contending that its members, led by hospital workers from Ohio, led a peaceful protest to voice their disapproval of CNA's "anti-union campaign in Ohio."
SEIU spokeswoman Joyce Moscato told BNA April 14 that there was some pushing and shoving as SEIU members tried to get into the banquet and other conference attendees tried to keep them out, but added, "it didn't last long." She acknowledged that several people got hurt, including some SEIU members, but added that it was "not intentional." She also confirmed that an SEIU member died from a heart attack as he was boarding the bus after the incident.
In a statement issued the evening of April 12, SEIU Executive Vice President Mary Kay Henry acknowledged that more than 800 SEIU members traveled to Dearborn from all parts of the country. "CNA's recent actions threaten the future of the labor movement for all workers--and we cannot remain silent," she said. "Open debate serves an important role as we work to strengthen our movement. The Labor Notes conference is the right time and place to discuss our differences," she added.
No Arrests, Dearborn Mayor's Office Says
A spokeswoman for the Dearborn mayor told BNA April 14 that there were no arrests and the SEIU members dispersed without incident when the police arrived on the scene. She added that one woman was "startled" when the SEIU group came into the hotel resulting in her falling and hitting her head. The fall did not occur because of "criminal action," she added.
In recent days, CNA/NNOC also has accused SEIU of threatening and intimidating union leaders and members at their homes and at work.
According to an April 11 CNA/NNOC statement, groups of four or five SEIU staff members went to the homes of at least two female board members and began yelling epithets and screaming at them. "SEIU's behavior, sending swarms of staff to threaten women in their homes, is especially disgraceful," DeMoro said.
DeMoro told BNA April 11 that for the past two weeks SEIU has been calling CNA/NNOC members telling them that their union is using their dues money to organize nurses out of state. In addition, she said, the union has sent people into California for six week stints to "destroy CNA."
Moscato refuted DeMoro's charges, contending there were only a small group of SEIU members from Ohio who were in California for one week. She said they called CNA/NNOC members and sent mailings to let them know what their union had done in Ohio to stop the 8,000 health care employees from organizing with SEIU as well as telling them how CNA/NNOC was using their dues money. The SEIU members were asking CNA/NNOC members to tell their leadership to stop raiding SEIU, she added.
SEIU Asks Locals to Withhold Payments to AFL-CIO
The dispute also has financial implications for the rest of the labor movement. SEIU has asked all its locals to withhold payment of per capita dues to the AFL-CIO central labor councils under Solidarity Charters until the national AFL-CIO "takes action to stop the CNA."
Moscato said that locals have been asked to put the money into escrow until some action is taken against CNA. The locals also are being asked to tell the CLCs to send a message to AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney to try to resolve the dispute.
DeMoro told BNA that the CLCs are being held "hostage" by the SEIU and that her board of directors has authorized "defraying any financial hardship" to the CLCs caused by the dispute
Moscato said SEIU was taking this action because the solidarity charters were meant to prevent the type of "raiding" that CNA is doing in Las Vegas.
DeMoro defended her union's actions in Las Vegas, stating that a "large majority" of nurses in those hospitals have been dissatisfied with SEIU and wanted to leave that union for a long time.
After a number of unions--including SEIU-- disaffiliated from the AFL-CIO in 1995 and formed the Change to Win federation, the AFL-CIO created the solidarity charters to enable the CTW locals to join and be part of the state federations and central labor councils. CNA is now part of the AFL-CIO and SEIU is not.
According to a recent AFL-CIO memo to all state federations and central labor councils about the SEIU-CNA dispute, the solidarity charter program includes a "voluntary" pledge that unions will not engage in raiding and in 99 percent of the cases that is what has occurred. "In a handful of cases unions have chosen to ignore the pledge or have dropped out of the program in order to continue with their raids. The AFL-CIO has no formal way to 'enforce' voluntary agreements, but we have and continue to use our best efforts to persuade all unions that unity and solidarity are preferable to raids and division."
According to the memo, President Sweeney is "reaching out to all parties involved to try and resolve these matters.
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