Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Hospitals’ workers split on unions

Just as sisters often disagree about how to live their lives, employees at two Las Vegas sister hospitals disagreed Monday on whether they wanted union representation.

But in one of the elections the results are not official and are under investigation by the National Labor Relations Board's Las Vegas office.

The majority of nurses, nurse aids, maintenance, cafeteria and support workers at Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center voted in favor of union representation, while the same type of workers at MountainView voted against it. MountainView's results are being investigated.

Of the 173 Southern Hills nurses eligible to vote, 70 voted in favor of and 50 voted against Service Employees International Union Local 1107 representation. The union represents about 8,000 health care workers in Nevada. Among the service and maintenance workers at the HCA Inc.-owned hospital, 108 were eligible to vote and 36 voted in favor of the union, while 35 voted against it.

Jane McAlevey, executive director of the SEIU Local 1107, said the workers voted in favor of the union because they want better working conditions -- including staffing ratios -- affordable health care and pensions.

"Health care workers made another huge step forward last night fighting for patient safety and themselves," she said. "There is a movement in Las Vegas that is growing. Health care workers are saying they're tired of this stuff."

HCA employees have health plans and 401(k) plans, but workers want access to "affordable" health care and pensions, McAlevey said, adding that the SEIU will soon conduct employee surveys at Southern Hills to find out what other items employees want in their contracts.

Susan Scott, an emergency room nurse at Southern Hills, said benefits may be a concern to some, but the No. 1 issue for nurses is patient care.

"Patients are sicker than they were 10 years ago, but there isn't an increase in nurses," she said, adding that better nurse-to-patient ratios and acuity levels would improve patient care and attract nurses.

"I can't say there needs to be one standard because every department is different and acuity is different, but it needs to be improved all over the valley," Scott said of staffing levels.

In a statement, Southern Hills said: "It is and always has been our belief that we can best work together to meet the needs of employees without the intervention of an outside third party such as a union. We do, however, respect the right of employees to form a union if they wish to do so and will bargain with the union in good faith."

At MountainView, 391 registered nurses were eligible to vote and 186 voted against union representation, while 115 voted for it. Among the service and maintenance workers, 216 were eligible to vote and 84 voted against the union, while 77 voted for it.

"It is and always has been our belief that we can best work together to meet the needs of our employees without a union," MountainView officials said in a statement. "As such, we are pleased that we will be able to continue this relationship with our employees."

NLRB Las Vegas Resident Officer Michael Chavez said 52 of the service and maintenance workers votes at MountainView were challenged and are under investigation to determine if the voters were eligible to vote.

At this point, MountainView's nurse vote is official, but the service/ maintenance vote is not, Chavez said, adding that the union and hospitals in all elections have seven days to raise objections before the results are certified.

Hospital officials at MountainView and Southern Hills held joint informational forums with the SEIU for employees prior to the elections.

The SEIU also represents registered nurses at Clark County-owned University Medical Center; HCA Inc.-owned Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center; and Desert Springs Hospital and Valley Hospital Medical Center, both of which are owned by Universal Health Services Inc. The union also represents technicians at Desert Springs Hospital and health employees at Clark County Health District.

Nurses and service and support workers at Catholic Healthcare West-owned St. Rose Dominican Hospitals -- Siena and Rose de Lima campuses voted for SEIU representation in October. The parties are in contract negotiations.

In 2006, four of the health care contracts for Las Vegas Valley SEIU members will expire, and one or two others could expire, depending on the terms negotiated with St. Rose Dominican Hospitals, which gives the union the ability to make sweeping changes in the majority of the hospitals.

The SEIU recently became the servicing representative for more than 900 health care workers in Northern Nevada who are represented by the Operating Engineers Local 3, which primarily represents construction workers in Northern Nevada and Northern California. The SEIU receives a fee to maintain the Operating Engineers contract and the health care workers remain Operating Engineers members.

In Las Vegas, the SEIU does not currently represent employees at IASIS Healthcare LLC-owned North Vista Hospital or Universal Health-owned Spring Valley Hospital Medical Center and Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.

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