Organizers want to leave NLRB out of union plans
Labor organizers representing San Francisco’s largest home healthcare agency are among the first in the country to pursue union status through community pressure and political clout rather than approval from the National Labor Relations Board. An NLRB election has the backing of more than 60 years of tradition, but unions can be formed legally by other means if employers recognize that the majority of workers support the union.
Since last summer, union organizers have pressed officials from the California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) in San Francisco to recognize its Visiting Nurses & Hospice (VN&H) division as part of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). With an annual budget of $20 million, VN&H employs more than 500 nurses, aides, and physical therapists and provides almost half the home health care available to San Franciscans. Employees don’t receive health care benefits themselves.
Last November, labor activists tried to circumvent the standard NLRB-supervised election by holding a mail-in “community election.” Two San Francisco leaders, the Rev. Cecil Williams of Glide Memorial Church and Superior Court Judge John Dearman, presided over the effort. Although 324 of the 359 returned ballots indicated support for the union, CPMC officials refused to honor the election results.
According to Sarah Kelly, director of public affairs for the medical center, only a legally binding election through the NLRB ensures fair representation of all employees. “We have reports that many employees don’t feel [the community election] is a safe and confidential process,” she said.
But SEIU spokesperson Eric Lerner said organizing through NLRB means giving up control. “Employers can indefinitely delay the election process or appeal it forever. There’s really no justice in that system,” he said.
Organizers say the union is needed to protect workers and patients from a cost-cutting policy that has become more aggressive since Sutter Health, based in Sacramento, Calif., acquired CPMC in 1995. According to some organizers, VN&H employees continue to struggle with a steep workload under managed care.
But Kelly denied those claims. “We have benchmarked our caseloads and paperwork for VN&H, and the productivity has been below measured standards for home health care.”
Union organizers plan to beef up public pressure on CPMC, partly through political leverage. Lerner said several members on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors support the union effort, including members who oversee VN&H city contracts.
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