SEIU cries "foul" over outsing by nurses

The nurses of St. John's Mercy Medical Center were offered a choice, stick with their union, the SEIU, join a different union, the UFCW, or dump them both and become free of union representation. A total of 1.036 nurses voted for neither, 685 voted to stay with the SEIU and two voted to join the UFWC. With a vote spread of nearly 349 between those wanting to seperate from the union versus to remain with the union -- the union cries "unfair practices".

A reasonable person could understand if the vote to decertify was close, but when the majority says no then shoudn't the union respect what the workers' want, isn't that what the union purport to support -- what workers' want? This nurse says respect what these professionals want, respect their opinon and more importantly respect their vote!

Below is a copy of the letter to the editor which I submitted in response to the article the ran on the SEIU's sour grapes attitude. The link to the original article can be found at the end of the letter.

(SUBMITTED BUT NOT PRINTED)

August 23, 2007

Letters to the Editor
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
900 North Tucker Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63101

Re: “Union says hospital used access to influence nurses”
Dear Editor:

Can we say “sour grapes”? After losing the “decertification vote” by 349 the union cries “undue influence”, why? Because in their myopic view of the world no one in their right mind would reject the benevolent protection of the union power structure, and nurses surely could not think they could – speak with their own voice. As to Wright’s complaint about the letter from the Sister’s of Mercy to vote with the hospital, how is this any different from the full page newspaper ads this same union is taking out in my home town beseeching the community to “stand by the nurses” in their attempt to unionize at a local hospital. Oh, I know the difference these full page ads are paid for by union dues and displaying the signatures of local, state and federal politicians and powerbrokers are meant to influence the community into browbeating those opposing joining a union into joining one. Also, it should have been apparent to the union that they were most likely on the losing side of this vote when only 1/5 of the nurses chose to join them under the open shop agreement – this was not a resounding endorsement, or maybe the St. John’s nurses were aware of the SEIU’s role in the King/Harbor Hospital debacle and didn’t think they wanted that “type” of representation.

Whatever, the reason, this nurse says kudos to the nurses of St. John’s for making their voices heard. I think what every one should take notice in this vote is the turnout and the disparity between the ayes and nays, because contrary to the unions plaintive assertions this speaks volumes about what the nurses wanted!

Geneviève M. Clavreul, RN, Ph.D.

The link to the original article can be found here: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/healthcare/story/C98F115679922E458625733F00092A0A?OpenDocument