National Nurses United

6 N A T I O N A L N U R S E W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G M AY | J U N E 2 0 1 7 NEWS BRIEFS CALIFORNIA V oicing concern about safe staffing, fair pay, and respect in the workplace, registered nurses at Kindred Hospital San Gabriel Valley in West Covina, Calif. voted by 90 percent on April 19 to join the California Nurses Associa- tion/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU). The final vote, a secret ballot election supervised by the National Labor Relations Board, was 37 to 4 to join CNA. "We are thrilled to join our union cowork- ers at Kindred Westminster and Baldwin Park," said Nieva Castigador, an RN at Kindred San Gabriel Valley. "In the coming weeks we will be electing our bargaining team and are looking forward to bargaining our first contract to improve working condi- tions for our patients and ourselves." CNA now represents RNs at three Kindred Healthcare facilities: Kindred Baldwin Park, Kindred Westminster, and now Kindred San Gabriel Valley. At San Gabriel Valley, CNA will represent 100 RNs. Baldwin Park RNs voted to join CNA last November and are currently in talks with hospital officials over their first contract. In the lead-up to the election, the Kindred San Gabriel Valley RNs expressed a strong desire for a collective voice to improve RN staffing standards for patients, sufficient medical supplies and equipment for patient care, and strengthened standards for nurses, including guaranteed wage increases, lower health insurance premiums, and an improved retirement plan. Other Kindred San Gabriel Valley health workers are also considering unionization through the CNA-affiliated Caregivers and Healthcare Employees Union (CHEU). Hospital employees at Kindred Baldwin Park are currently CHEU members. "I'm excited that the RNs have chosen to join CNA, and I hope our coworkers will join us by building support in CHEU," said Kindred San Gabriel RN Jovy Mendoza. "We will be stronger together to improve conditions for our patients and ourselves." —Staff report CALIFORNIA E xpressing their desire to work collectively in order to win safe staffing, fair pay, and respect in the workplace, 200 healthcare workers at Kindred Hospital-San Gabriel Valley in West Covina, Calif. voted by an overwhelm- ing margin June 15 to join the Caregivers and Healthcare Employees Union (CHEU). CHEU, an affiliate of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC), represents a broad range of caregivers and hospital support staff, such as laboratory technicians, respiratory therapists, aides, and food service workers. In the lead up to the election, the health- care workers expressed a strong desire for a collective voice to improve staffing, assure sufficient medical supplies and equipment for patient care, and improve salary and benefits to curb the high turnover rate. "We are glad to be joining CHEU so that we can combine our advocacy power with the registered nurses. Worker turnover at Kindred San Gabriel has been high, and we need to have fair pay and benefits to keep our staff from leaving," said Monica Hernan- dez, a certified nursing assistant (CNA). "We are excited to celebrate our CHEU union victory and to be joining the current CNA/CHEU members at Kindred-Baldwin Park and Kindred Westminster," said JoJo Padua, a licensed vocational nurse (LVN). "Together, we can make a real difference in patient care and get the equipment and supplies we desperately need." Last year, unionization swept Kindred facilities in the region and CNA and CHEU now represent more than 1,000 Kindred RNs and healthcare workers at facilities in the region, including San Gabriel Valley, Baldwin Park, and Westminster. —Staff report Kindred San Gabriel caregivers go union Join CHEU, ally with RN colleagues More Kindred RNs join union fold

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