For the past several years the California Nurses Association (CNA) have launched what can only be described as a smear campaign against Huntington Memorial Hospital (HMH), its management, and ironically against many of the very nurses they purported they wanted to protect. The CNA held rallies and protests outside the hospital and of course many politicians, such as Congresswoman Chu and numerous members of the Pasadena City Council calling for HMH to “just let the nurses vote”.
So when time came for the HMH RNs to vote on the matter the RNs turnout in unprecedented numbers something that rarely happens. The outcome, which was no surprise to this RN, was that the CNA lost. The unofficial tally of the NLRB-led and supervised April 15th – 16th election was as follows – 539 No to 445 Yes with 176 challenged votes. Did the CNA honor the will of the HMH RNs, of course not? Instead they cried foul, filed complaints and demanded an opportunity to have a brand new election. The NLRB, which is not known for being all that fair and heavily favoring “unions” no matter how egregious their actions are – don’t believe me just ask the RNs from Cedar-Sinai that had to endure threats of violence against their children and pets if they opposed the CNA coming into Cedars. Threats which at first the local NLRB folks stated were no big deal, but at least the DC office disagreed and made the final decision that CNA employees have indeed made threats in order to chill the NO-vote.
The NLRB decided that HMH had made errors and that the CNA deserved another bite at the apple, and so another vote was scheduled. As the new date approached the CNA filed additional complaints further delaying the vote. Then about two months ago an interesting rumor began to spread through many of the HMH nursing units. The rumor was that the CNA had abandoned their efforts to unionize the HMH RNs, but no official announcement was made until April 26th when I received word from several of my sources that the CNA had withdrawn their petition – effectively ending the fight to unionize the HMH RNs.
So after all the wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth and stories from the so-called down-trodden RNs that the CNA were going to save from the “evil” machinations of the hospital administration – the CNA quietly pulled up stakes and left.
Why? You may ask did the CNA give up the battle for the hearts and souls and most importantly the dues of the HMH RNs because apparently in the end they did their math and figured that they would lose this election as well. And of course they could risk a news story about them losing an election, they only want news stories about their triumphs. So kudos to the IStandWithHuntington nurses and their supporters for being the voice of the opposition and it was due in large part to this opposition that HMH RNs got the opportunity to stand up to the CNA.
I do wonder where are all those community leaders, religious leaders and politicians, like Chu, Tornek, Gordo and others now? They rallied with the CNA endorsing the CNA line but failed to rally to show their support when the HMH RNs won the day. The silence is deafening!
Congratulations HMH RNs for making your choice known, now its time to rebuild many of the bridges and bonds with your co-workers that the CNA had no trouble breaking. It’s time to reunite once again for the good of your nursing team, the hospital, the community and most importantly for the very patients you have committed to serve.