National Nurses United

CALIFORNIA H ealthcare workers at Shasta Regional Medical Center (SRMC) in Redding, Calif. voted over- whelmingly in May to join Care- givers and Healthcare Employees Union (CHEU), an affiliate of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU). SRMC employees voted 267-30, with 90 percent in favor of joining CHEU, which will represent 400 nursing assistants, laboratory technicians, respiratory therapists, orderlies, housekeepers, admitting staff, and other hospital employees. Shasta Regional is part of the Prime Healthcare system. The healthcare workers voted to join CHEU just seven months after 350 regis- tered nurses at SRMC voted to join CNA. Nurses say they look forward to joining forces with healthcare workers to address patient safety issues. "We are so happy to be part of the CHEU/CNA family," said telemetry certified nursing assistant Stephanie Somer. Key issues for the SRMC workers include safe staffing in all departments, a stronger voice in patient care delivery, improved healthcare and secure retirement benefits, and job protections associated with the collective strength of union representation. "Through collective action, nurses were able to reverse Prime's changes to our health insurance plan that forced health- care workers to travel hundreds of miles to receive care," said Somer. "Now, we look forward to the same protections that nurses have when advocating for our patients and ourselves. We see positive changes at our hospital since the nurses joined CNA. That shows how a union voice protects our community." "Shasta Regional's health- care workers are vital to the care and treatment of our patients," says registered nurse Kelly Hayden, who works in recovery and cardiac rehabilitation. "We share the same concerns about insufficient staffing and equipment, and we will work together to improve the retention rate at Shasta." The election is a culmination of a four- month campaign by the Shasta Regional healthcare workers. With their election secured, the Shasta healthcare workers will now elect a team to represent them in nego- tiations with hospital representatives on a first contract. —Staff report Healthcare workers at Shasta Regional say yes to union M A R C H | A P R I L 2 0 1 8 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 N A T I O N A L N U R S E 11 the respect they deserve for the hard work that they do every day." "UC Davis Medical Center nurses support our fellow UC workers in their demands for a strong contract and justice in the work- place," said UC Davis RN Melissa Johnson- Camacho, RN. "As nurses, we know that in order to provide the safe patient care our communities need, we count on our cowork- ers and they count on us." "We all play a critical role in making UC the institution it is," said Michelle Kay, a nurse practitioner at the UC Berkeley Tang Center, which is the main healthcare center for Cal students. "All UC workers deserve job security, safe working condi- tions, and economic and retirement securi- ty. We stand united with all UC workers demanding justice and fairness from UC administration." A sympathy strike happens when one union agrees to participate in a strike called by a union representing other workers who have a union contract with that same employer. "At UC Irvine, nurses voted overwhelmingly to strike in sympathy with our co-workers," said UC Irvine RN Marlene Tucay. "UC needs to know that if you take on one of us, you take on all of us!" —Staff report

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