On Sept. 13, Kaiser Permanente workers can begin mailing in ballots to determine whether they will be represented by the incumbent Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West or the National Union of Healthcare Workers, the San Francisco Business Times reports.
The National Labor Relations Board set the date for the election and called for ballots to be returned by Oct. 4, according to a NUHW spokesperson.
The vote will determine which union will represent about 43,000 Kaiser workers and obtain access to roughly $42 million in union dues. The election is being called one of the largest and most complicated in decades (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 7/30).
Background
NUHW and SEIU-UHW have competed for members since 2009, when Service Employees International Union assumed trusteeship of UHW and ousted its leadership. The former UHW leaders then formed the rival union NUHW (California Healthline, 7/15).
Decision on Mail-in Ballots
SEIU-UHW initially sought to hold the union representation election at the workplace. However, NUHW said having ballots mailed in would allow for a more neutral voting environment (Calvan, Sacramento Bee, 7/31).
Mike Leong -- an assistant regional director for NLRB -- said the labor board was not equipped to handle an on-site election that would be large enough for the Kaiser vote (San Francisco Business Times, 7/30).