Union design unfolds

Friday, Dec. 8, 2006 | 7:10 a.m.

When the Service Employees International Union reached a standoff with Valley Health System this week, the hospital company was the first to blink in a very public showdown mediated by elected officials.

But make no mistake, the union's grand strategy for Las Vegas also faltered.

Buoyed by labor contract successes at other hospitals, the nurses and technicians were gaining momentum until they hit a roadblock at Valley Health System.

Before that, the 15,000-member SEIU Local 1107 was growing, most recently by adding employees at four hospitals - the St. Rose Dominican Group's three facilities and Sunrise Health's Southern Hills Hospital.

The union has organized seven of the region's 11 hospitals, with workers gaining unprecedented strength in taking their demands to management, complaining of short staffing and retirement benefits. Two of the remaining nonunion hospitals belong to Valley Health System.

By union design, earlier labor contracts were set to expire in 2006, to leverage hospitals against each other.

"We believed you can't raise standards at just one facility," SEIU Executive Director Jane McAlevey said. "You'll put them at a disadvantage."

St. Rose hospitals were the first to sign contracts with the union - in April - and were later derided for it by Valley officials. Sunrise facilities signed contracts in October, adding to SEIU's momentum in negotiating with the Valley Health System's Desert Springs Hospital and Valley Hospital Medical Center.

The Valley impasse led to a lockout Monday. On Tuesday Valley officials relented to politicians who demanded a cooling-off period.

SEIU in January had sought labor-related information from all the hospitals, such as turnover rates, pay and benefits data and staffing ratios - standard requests in contract talks. In February hundreds of union representatives filled the expansive hall at SEIU's headquarters during many strategy sessions.

Negotiations started in late March with Catholic Healthcare West, the California nonprofit organization that runs the St. Rose Dominican group, and the company's contract became a benchmark for SEIU's negotiations with the other local hospitals.

SEIU still must negotiate an agreement with University Medical Center, a publicly owned hospital where a strike would be illegal. The two parties will go to arbitration if they reach an impasse.

A Las Vegas management labor lawyer said the SEIU was shrewd to negotiate first with the nonprofit hospitals.

"It's the weak sister," said the lawyer, who didn't want to be named because of the powerful politicians who have entered the Valley-SEIU contract dispute. "Then once you get your nose under the tent you say, 'This is a fair contract.' (Catholic Healthcare West) just didn't take them on. They don't have a board of directors to answer to. They still have to make good decisions, but more of their profit is going to the union."

The Valley hospitals are probably standing their ground to prevent SEIU from organizing the system's other two hospitals, Spring Valley and Summerlin, the attorney said.

Mike Tymczyn, vice president of communications for St. Rose Dominican Hospitals, said the SEIU contract was fair for both parties.

McAlevey said the decision to start with Catholic Healthcare West was not part of an overall strategy. But the company proved most cooperative in dealing with the union, she said, and the two parties completed the deal after only four meetings.

Contract negotiations with the Sunrise Hospitals - MountainView Hospital, Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center, Sunrise Children's Hospital and Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, owned by Tennessee-based HCA Inc.- opened April 4 and ended in early October after a dozen sessions.

Amy Stevens, system vice president for Sunrise Health, said they were based more on HCA guidelines than the St. Rose contract. McAlevey said the HCA agreement stayed true to the core issues the nurses wanted, which were established in the St. Rose contract.

McAlevey said negotiation efforts with Catholic Healthcare West and HCA paled in comparison to the difficulties the union faced with Pennsylvania-based Universal Health Services, which owns Valley Health System.

Relations between the union and Valley and Desert Springs hospitals were contentious from the beginning and included memos to nurses and technicians disparaging the St. Rose contract.

One nursing administrator chided St. Rose as SEIU's "favorite hospital" because it "caved to the union's demands."