Nurses join union with crane operators, concrete workers

Scott Sonner

Sunday, July 18, 1999 | 2:49 a.m.

RENO, Nev. - They are brothers and sisters in arms - heavy machinery mechanics, crane operators, dredgers, concrete pumpers and now, several hundred nurses in Nevada.

In the first major union election at a Reno hospital, registered nurses at Washoe Medical Center voted 315-206 late Friday to join the ranks of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 3.

"None of the hospitals in the area are widely unionized," said Steve Moler, a spokesman for Local 3 based in Alameda, Calif.

"This is the first major union victory for anything in northern Nevada," he said in an interview on Saturday.

The unlikely alliance stems from the union's historical representation of boiler and maintenance workers in large buildings, including hospitals.

"In the old days we were steam shovel operators," he said. "Heavy equipment operators, that's primarily where our roots are."

"Back in the 1960s we started a public employee division and started getting into public sectors like law enforcement and eventually some public health nurses," he said.

About 630 registered nurses at Washoe Medical Center will be represented by the union, which also has petitioned the National Labor Relations Board for a similar vote for about 600 nurses at St. Mary's Hospital in Reno.

Another 600 maintenance and service workers at Washoe Medical Center vote Aug. 12-13 on whether to join an affiliated union, the International Union of Stationary Operating Engineers.

"I believe that many others will follow," nurse Sue Bridie of Reno said after the vote Friday night.

Rod Callahan, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Washoe Medical Center, said the results still must be certified by the NLRB.

In addition to the 315 votes "for" and the 206 votes "against," there were 72 challenged ballots. But they will not affect the outcome of the election.

"We appreciate the fact that almost every eligible nurse voted," Callahan said in a statement.

"We have been and will remain committed to providing quality care and high levels of patient satisfaction," he said.

The chief complaint among nurses at Washoe Medical has been staffing shortages.

"Wages have not been a major issue. The main motivation was they felt the hospital was continually increasing their patient loads," Moler said.

Nurses who used to handle six to eight patients at a time now handle as many as 20.

"I fear we can't give good quality care," nurse Karen Franklin said.

Local 3, the largest construction trades local in the country, represents about 35,000 workers in northern California, northern Nevada, western South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming and Hawaii.

Most are construction and heavy equipment operators, but they include about 1,200 miners in Nevada and about 3,000 law officers in Nevada and California, including the Alameda County deputy sheriffs. The union currently represents about 400 public health nurses in California.

In February, about 75 nurses at Elko (Nev.) General Hospital voted to join the union. That prompted inquiries from nurses at Washoe Medical Center.

"They came to us," Moler said. "We have a policy of not turning anyone away."