First Unionized Hospital in Texas
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> Cypress Fairbanks Hospital, Houston RNs Vote to Join Nation's Largest RN
> Organization
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I'm certainly happy that these workers now have a union (a position which
stands in stark contrast to the CNA, who are happy that CHP workers in Ohio
have no union). But in this time of celebration, forgive me for asking a few
impertinent question:
-- No word about CNA's "back room deal" with Tenet that governed this election? -- No critique of the secret negotiations between CNA head Rose Ann Demoro and Tenet's CEO Trevor Fetter which excluded rank and file Tenet workers at Cypress Fairbanks? -- Why were CNA organizers given exclusive access to break rooms and other areas inside the hospital to talk to workers, while other unions were not? Why was CNA the only union on the ballot? Was this a sellout "sweetheart" deal between CNA and Tenet? -- In other words, no mention of the rank hypocrisy displayed by CNA, which criticizes other unions for signing election agreements with the boss, but feels free to sign such agreements in secret?
Just to be clear, I have no problem in principle with election agreements. That's what unions have to do today to organize on scale and to ensure workers get a free and fair election: hold employers accountable via corporate social responsibility campaigns in order to stop their bad business practices, which includes preventing their employees from having a union election free of intimidation.
The CNA in practice has no problem with such agreements either. Its organizing agreements with Catholic Healthcare West and Tenet demonstrate this. Unfortunately, the CNA says publicly they have a problem with this in principle when other unions employ the same strategy.
For instance, here's a CNA flyer attacking SEIU's organizing agreement with Tenet Healthcare from 2003 (after they'd signed a deal with CHW, but not yet inked their Tenet agreement in secret later that year):
http://www.youshare.com/view.php?file=CNAbackroomdeal.pdf
And more on CNA's hypocritical actions in Ohio, which wrecked CHP workers' multi-year campaign to have a free and fair union election:
It would be nice if CNA's supporters in the progressive community began to question the vast discrepancies between their behavior and their rhetoric.