- National Union of Healthcare Workers
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National Union of Healthcare Workers 
Founded 2009 Country United States Key people Sal Rosselli, President Office location Oakland, CA Website http://www.nuhw.org National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) is an independent labor union based in Oakland, California. It was formed after a split with the SEIU United Healthcare Workers West (UHW-West). It represents a diverse spectrum of health care workers and embraces a strong philosophy of union democracy.
Contents
History
NUHW was formed by former members of the California local SEIU UHW-West after UHW-West was placed in trusteeship in 2009 by its parent union, SEIU. UHW-West's leadership was found guilty of financial mismanagement in a report by Ray Marshall, a former leader of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).[1] He recommended the trusteeship if the leadership continued to refuse to support the transfer of 65,000 homecare and nursing home workers into a different SEIU local union.[2] The local had refused to transfer these workers because the members did not want to be moved to the other SEIU unit. The local had also been critical of deals struck by SEIU that prohibited nursing home employees from reporting safety concerns to authorities.[3][4] After a brief standoff, SEIU International President Andy Stern placed UHW-West in trusteeship, removing its leaders and appointing two SEIU executive board members as trustees.[5]The ousted leaders, together with other disgruntled members, announced the formation of NUHW just days later.[6]
Within five weeks, more than 80,000 workers at more than 350 California hospitals, nursing homes, clinics and in the homecare industry filed petitions to leave SEIU and join NUHW.[7] This included the majority of members at one of the nation's largest private-sector healthcare employers, Kaiser Permanente California.[8] As of March 22, 2009, 91,000 (a majority of current UHW-West members) have signed decertification petitions to leave SEIU and join NUHW, however, only a few thousand of those (see below) have actually voted to join NUHW.[9]
SEIU filed a federal lawsuit against NUHW and several former SEIU-UHW staff members in 2009, alleging they breached their fiduciary duty by using member's dues monies to oppose SEIU's efforts to impose a trusteeship and build a rival union while still employed by SEIU. On April 9, 2010, a jury awarded a total of $1.5 million in damages to SEIU, including ordering several leaders and president Sal Rosselli to pay between $30,000 and $74,000 each.[10] However, this was a civil judgment based on the local's leaders using time they were still officially working for SEIU to prepare to launch NUHW. None of the charges of finanical mismanagement or theft of funds was substantiated, and it appears that the purpose of the lawsuit was SEIU's desire to bring about the demise of NUHW.
Membership
NUHW has won elections to represent more than 5,000 healthcare workers at several California facilities, as well as three separate professional units in the Kaiser Permanente system.[11] As of April 12, 2010, none of those workers has yet bargained a contract with their employer through NUHW.[12] NUHW also lost a close election to SEIU in 2009 to represent roughly 10,000 home care workers in Fresno County[13] and lost an election in 2010 to represent more than 40,000 Kaiser Permanente workers throughout California, who are still SEIU members. NUHW challenged the results of both these elections, and in July 2011, an administrative law judge sided with NUHW's petition for a new election for the Kaiser Permanente workers.[14]
Though tens of thousands of SEIU members petitioned in 2009 to leave their union and join NUHW, elections were held at only a handful of facilities that year. SEIU effectively blocked elections at many facilities by filing numerous charges against NUHW with the National Labor Relations Board, which oversees such elections.[15] Some elections could not be held at the time the members petitioned for them because labor law prevents a new election when a contract is already in place.[16]
Philosophy
Many of the former UHW-West members who later formed NUHW accused SEIU leaders of operating the union with a "top-down" philosophy, where union staff leaders hold all the power, rather than members.[17] Critics in the broader labor movement agreed, noting, for example, SEIU's replacement of hands-on union stewards with a toll-free number.[18] By contrast, UHW-West had a reputation for empowering its members[19] and NUHW was founded along the same principles.[20]
References
- ^ Evelyn Larrubia "Split decision in hearing on home care workers union", Los Angeles Times (January 23, 2009)
- ^ NUHW, "About NUHW," NUHW About Page
- ^ http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/20469
- ^ http://www.counterpunch.org/nader04232008.html
- ^ Paul Pringle "Breakaway union could prompt war of attrition with SEIU", Los Angeles Times (February 2, 2009)
- ^ NUHW, "About NUHW," NUHW About Page
- ^ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/26/BUD6165RR9.DTL
- ^ http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-union27-2009feb27,0,3173207.story
- ^ http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/3/22/711746/-My-letter-to-SEIU
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/10/us/10brfs-UNIONWINSDAM_BRF.html
- ^ http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2010/01/25/daily26.html
- ^ http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/01/kaiser-permanente-health-care-workers-vote-to-split-from-giant-service-employees-international-union.html
- ^ http://www.nuhw.org/press-coverage/2009/6/20/fresno-bee-homecare-union-election-challenged.html
- ^ http://www.californiahealthline.org/articles/2011/7/19/labor-board-could-call-new-union-election-for-43500-kaiser-workers.aspx
- ^ http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/3/22/711746/-My-letter-to-SEIU
- ^ http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2009/03/16/daily48.html
- ^ http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/01/kaiser-permanente-health-care-workers-vote-to-split-from-giant-service-employees-international-union.html
- ^ http://www.counterpunch.org/winslow07132009.html
- ^ http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2009/05/01/nuhw-founding-convention-new-prescription-for-a-healthy-union-movement/
- ^ http://www.nuhw.org/about/
External links
Categories:- Trade unions in the United States
- Labor relations in California
- Medicine and healthcare trade unions
- Organizations based in Oakland, California
- 2009 establishments in the United States
- Service Employees International Union
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