Update (10/23/2000) —
Local 1004 members and their
co-workers, represented by the California Nurses Association (CNA), have voted
by an overwhelming 97% margin to reject the hospital's "final
offer." The vote also authorized actions up to and including a one-day
strike to achieve a fair first contract. UE and CNA are engaged in joint bargaining
for a first contract at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital.
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UE Local 1004 members
demand a fair first contract at a candlelight vigil outside of Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital |
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Local 1004 and California Nurses Association (CNA) members,
family and friends gathered outside Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital on
Sept. 28 for a candlelight vigil (pictured at left), one of a number of
activities in support of the UE local’s campaign for a first contract.
A week earlier, hospital management made a "final
offer" which fails to meet employees’ needs in a number of significant
areas and contains takeaways. "Basically we are dealing with the
management’s unwillingness to give up their power," says Terry
Bucknall, an x-ray technician and negotiating committee member.
More than 200 hospital employees and supporters attended the
vigil, where Rev. Lynn Jay proclaimed the workers’ objective to be
justice. Nurses and UE members explained the issues in negotiations.
The day following the vigil, a Local 1004 delegation took
1,000 postcards signed by members of the community, taped together in sheets
of about 100 each, to the administration offices. "Unfortunately, the CEO
was not there, but he got the message," says Bucknall.
In the weeks since, the hospital has been running
advertisements in the local newspaper boasting of the "final offer"
and misrepresenting the issues.
At UE NEWS press-time, Local 1004 members were
circulating a petition to management and the board of directors that expresses
support for the union’s bargaining goals.
More than 500 Henry Mayo employees — roughly half the
hospital’s total workforce — voted in February to be represented by UE.
They include licensed vocational nursing staff, technicians in Radiology,
Labor and Respiratory, clerks and support staff. Registered nurses are
represented by the CNA.
