Yesterday, the National Labor Relations Board announced that the upstart National Union of Healthcare Workers won an overwhelming majority of votes to represent Kaiser Permanente health care workers in Southern California, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
The election ousts the national Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West as the workers' labor group.
NUHW formed last year after SEIU took over the local affiliate United Healthcare Workers-West and unseated its leadership. After the takeover, the former UHW leaders helped form NUHW as a rival union (Darcé, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1/27).
Election Results, Implications
The Kaiser workers voted 1,652 to 254 to join NUHW. The vote will bring 2,300 health workers into the new union (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 1/26).
After NLRB certifies the election results, NUHW will have the power to form bargaining committees and negotiate contracts.
The victory also provides NUHW with additional clout as it reaches out to 50,000 other SEIU-represented Kaiser workers across California (McDonnell, "L.A. Now," Los Angeles Times, 1/26).
SEIU officials said that the new union lacks the leverage and bargaining power of the larger labor group (San Diego Union-Tribune, 1/27).