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Caregivers at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital to Hold Candlelight Vigil

Posted on: Thursday, 16 February 2006, 12:00 CST

SANTA ROSA, Calif., Feb. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- On Thursday, February 16, caregivers at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital will hold a candlelight vigil to call upon their employer to stop its anti-union campaign and to respect their desire to form a union by allowing them to hold a fair election.

In December of 2004, the majority of the 800 licensed vocational nurses, nursing assistants, respiratory therapists, surgical technicians, radiology technologists, clerks, housekeepers and dietary staff at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital filed a petition in favor of forming a union, in order to have a stronger voice in patient care and staffing decisions. Since then, the hospital and its parent corporation, the St. Joseph Health System based in Orange, California, have vehemently opposed worker organizing efforts. Local elected officials and religious leaders are calling on hospital management to end their tactics of intimidation and misinformation and stop their use of professional union-busting consultants. Catholic community leaders, in particular, are expressing dismay over the fact that Sonoma County's only Catholic Hospital is violating Catholic social teaching on worker's rights.

Workers are calling for a "fair election agreement" to allow for a fair and democratic union election. This type of agreement was created in recognition of the failures of federal labor law to protect workers from anti-union employers, and have been endorsed by several other major hospital chains including Catholic Healthcare West, Daughters of Charity and Kaiser Permanente. "We love our hospital, we believe in its mission and we want to make it a better place for the patients and the workers," said Priscilla Yaeger, a patient financial counselor in the admitting department. "We want a voice so we can keep the focus on patient care instead of the hospital's corporate bottom line."

Thursday's speakers include Thomas Schindler, a public defense attorney in Detroit and a former director of ethics for a Catholic healthcare system. "Unions are a means for employees to have a voice, allowing them to speak up without being threatened or fired." said Mr. Schindler. "According to the Catholic Church, that power must not be undermined by union-busting activities."

Who: Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital caregivers, religious leaders and community supporters When: 6 p.m., Thursday, February 16 Where: Outside Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, corner of Montgomery Drive & Sotoyome Street

SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West, with more than 140,000 members, is the largest and most powerful healthcare union in the Western U.S. We represent every type of healthcare worker, including nursing, professional, technical and service classifications. Our mission is to achieve high quality healthcare for all.

CONTACT: Kimberly Johnson 510-773-7275

SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West

CONTACT: Kimberly Johnson of SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West,+1-510-773-7275

Web site: http://www.seiu-uhw.org/

Source: PRNewswire

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