Los Robles Medical Center Employees Vote To Join Service Employees International Union
Vocational nurses, radiology technicians and other employees at Thousand Oaks-based Los Robles Regional Medical Center on Tuesday voted 293-102 to join the Service Employees International Union, the Ventura County Star reports. Los Robles emergency unit secretary Lisa Goad said that the move will allow more employees at the hospital to "set new standards for pay, benefits and staffing"; Los Robles registered nurses joined the SEIU in 1997. Goad said, "We looked at other hospitals in the area and saw that our pay and retirement benefits just didn't compare" (Rogers, Ventura County Star, 1/9). Kris Carraway-Bowman, a Los Robles spokesperson, said that hospital officials "can best meet employees' needs without third-party intervention," but they "respect" the right of employees to unionize, the Los Angeles Times reports. In the next few weeks, employees will elect a bargaining team to negotiate their first union contract. Goad said that the team will likely work to improve patient-to-staff ratios at the hospital (Ragland, Los Angeles Times, 1/9).
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