4,200+ Mercy hospitals workers to vote on unionizing

[Omaha Steve]

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080304/NEWS01/803040349/1056/COL02

SEIU, company agree to stay quiet
BY CLIFF PEALE | [e-mail]

More than 4,200 nurses, support staff, maintenance workers and clerical employees at the five Mercy Health Partners hospitals in Greater Cincinnati will vote March 14 on whether to unionize.

In a deal with the Service Employees International Union, Mercy and its parent company, Cincinnati-based Catholic Healthcare Partners, have agreed not to try to influence employee voting. Managers will not even answer questions about the election other than confirming the time and date, and employees will get written information and phone numbers to call for more information.

If employees choose a union, they will start negotiating a contract; and if they reject a union, the SEIU has agreed not to campaign at Mercy hospitals for three years.

"These ground rules are designed to avoid the tension typically associated with organizing campaigns and ensure that you can make the decision without pressure from either Mercy or SEIU representatives," company and union officials wrote in a letter mailed to employees Friday.

The SEIU has criticized Mercy for years, but it has been nearly a decade since the last vote on unionizing the employees there. In 2006, hospital workers in Cincinnati and around the state filed a class-action lawsuit claiming the company "systematically shortchanged" employees of hourly wages. That lawsuit has been settled.

The union votes come as increasing costs and the number of uninsured people have put new pressures on employees to work more hours and bear the brunt of turmoil in the industry.

FULL story at link.