We have never signed a deal that:
1- has the employer file for an election without a single signed union card - so that it is the employer, not the workers, who choose the union 2- bars the workers from campaigning for the union 3- requires the union to lobby for the employer against patient protections
the first two are the main components of the Ohio deal that we objected to, the third is a common feature in SEIU deal after SEIU deal.
The Ohio issue is important in that speaks directly to the future of the labor movement. Are we going to have a labor movement that is top down, disenfranchises workers, and stifles internal democracy. Or is the key to rebuilding the labor movement using the power of the workers to build their union -- not the power of the employer -- and making it feel like their union, not something shoved down their throat.
I would point out that we have never opposed neutrality agreements, but what they did in Ohio is very different that the Tenet agreement we signed. Under the Tenet pact, we still have to get the nurses to sign cards to petition for an election, the nurses are still involved in campaigning for their union, and it is their union. you'd be floored by the enthusiasm of the Texas RNs and how they feel this union is theirs.
By the way, I love SEIU's double standard -- whining about our raids while they try to destroy the New York State Nurses Union [already posted - DH]
and attacking us for "hurting the progressive movement" while they are meeting with the Republican leadership of the NY Senate "to help the GOP keep control." (see below)
----
Albany Times-Union - May 5, 2008
Politics: A process of give and take
Place your bets
After helping Democrats in some high-profile Senate contests, the influential 1199/SEIU health care union has decided to bet on Republicans, who still hold a 32-30 majority in the chamber, according to a person close to the union.
The union will provide resources exclusively to the GOP this fall, the person said.
Union leaders, joined by key health care industry figures, met Friday with Sen. Bruno to discuss how to help the GOP hold control.
The union ruffled feathers in February when it was revealed it had donated more than $250,000 to the Working Families Party in less than two months. The WFP has made the Democrats' takeover of the Senate a priority this year. The union, according to the Long Island-based newspaper Newsday, also bought a table at a fundraiser earlier this year for Sen. Craig Johnson, D-Port Washington. SEIU had backed Johnson's opponent in a special election last year.
Contributors: Capitol bureau reporters James M. Odato and Irene Jay Liu and State Editor Jay Jochnowitz.
Got a tip? Call 454-5424 or e-mail jjochnowitz@ timesunion.com.
> From: "Mark Rickling" <mrickling at gmail.com>
> Date: May 8, 2008 8:04:07 AM EDT
> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Subject: [lbo-talk] Houston Chronicle on CNA's Tenet organizing
> agreement
> Reply-To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
>
> I simply love the quote from the management-side labor lawyer
> criticizing CNA's deal with Tenet as "not organic" and "top-down, not
> bottom-up." You'll recall that this was the first union victory at a
> non-public hospital in Texas EVER. That some putative leftists could
> join him in condemning all organizing agreements on the same grounds
> is incredibly pathetic.
>
> http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/sixel/5762871.html
>
> May 7, 2008, 10:50PM
> Working
>
> Unionizing requires deal
>
> By L.M. SIXEL
> Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
>
> Union organizing sometimes isn't as spontaneous as it seems.
>
> It turns out that sometimes unions decide where and when they'll
> recruit based on quiet deals made with the very companies they're
> organizing.
>
> The California Nurses Association, which has made big news in Houston
> recently by becoming the only union to successfully organize nurses at
> a Texas hospital, has such a deal with Tenet Healthcare.
>
> It specifies which eight hospitals the union can organize in Houston,
> Dallas and Philadelphia, according to a copy of the agreement provided
> to the National Labor Relations Board.
>
> It also identifies the quarter and year in which union officials can
> launch their organizing campaigns.
>
> And if one of the hospitals can't be organized by CNA — it's sold, for
> example, or another union comes in — Tenet agrees to provide the
> California Nurses Association with "a comparable organizing
> opportunity, located in an area of interest to the union," according
> to the deal, which was obtained by the Chronicle from the National
> Labor Relations Board.
>
> According to a Tenet representative, the agreement — and a similar one
> with the Service Employees International Union — was struck in 2003.
>
> At the time, Tenet and the California Nurses Association were locked
> in a bitter strike. Tenet wanted to get rid of distractions and
> entered into the agreements, according to a company representative.
>
> The 2003 peace accord, in which Tenet pledged neutrality in organizing
> elections, only allowed the California Nurses Association to organize
> in California.
>
> In a similar deal with the SEIU, Tenet also added two hospitals in
> Florida as organizing targets.
>
> When it reached new agreements with both unions in 2007, Tenet
> identified which hospitals both unions can organize workers during
> specific windows of opportunity, according to a Tenet representative.
>
> The agreements call for a secret ballot election but limit what kind
> of statements the hospital and union can make. Both sides basically
> agree not to disparage the other.
>
> Deadline ahead
> The recent organizing campaign at Cypress-Fairbanks Medical Center,
> which the union won 119-111, had to be launched before Dec. 31,
> according to the timetable.
>
> According to the deal, the California Nurses Association and its
> National Nurses Organizing Committee must file an intent to organize
> Park Plaza Hospital in Houston by the end of June. Otherwise it loses
> its chance.
>
> The union's window of opportunity at Houston Northwest Medical Center
> runs between July 15 and Aug. 15.
>
> The deal also would allow organizing to begin at Doctors Hospital in
> the Dallas area in early 2010; Centennial Medical Center north of
> Dallas in the third quarter of 2010; and Lake Pointe Medical Center
> east of Dallas in the first quarter of 2011.
>
> In addition, the peace accord spells out when the California Nurses
> Association can argue with another union over representation rights.
> In exchange, Tenet agrees not to make a deal with another union
> regarding organizing rights for any registered nurses in Texas,
> Pennsylvania or California.
>
> Tenet's deal with SEIU does not involve any hospitals in Texas,
> according to a company representative.
>
> SEIU spokesman Carter Wright said he can't comment on the agreement it
> has with Tenet because of its confidentiality provision. He also
> wouldn't say which states the agreement covers.
>
> A spokesman for the California Nurses Association also declined to
> comment.
>
> The right pace
>
> Michael Muskat, an employment lawyer with Muskat, Martinez & Mahony in
> Houston who represents management, was surprised to hear such a
> specific timetable. But he said he understands Tenet's motivation to
> buy labor peace.
>
> "It sounds like Tenet is willing to accept some unionization at its
> hospitals as long as it's done at the right pace," he said. "It's
> trying to avoid multiple organizing campaigns attacking them at the
> same time."
>
> But he added that it seems like an odd way to rally registered nurses
> when the union came into Texas saying it was choosing its targets
> based on which nurses came forward at organizational meetings.
>
> "This is not organic union organizing," Muskat said, referring to a
> movement that starts on the factory floor by workers who want a voice
> at work. "It's top-down, not bottom-up."
>
> Organizing from the bottom up or the top down isn't really the issue,
> said the SEIU's Wright, but whether people have access to a fair and
> democratic process.