Nurses at San Ramon Medical Center Vote To Join California Nurses Association

Nurses at the San Ramon Regional Medical Center on Thursday voted 119-93 to join the California Nurses Association, the Contra Costa Times reports. The union will negotiate salaries, benefits and working conditions for the more than 240 nurses at the hospital. The two-day vote, held last week after "aggressive" campaigns by both the hospital and the union, concluded with a "narrow" victory for the CNA. San Ramon Regional has seven days to file objections, and hospital officials have not said whether they will dispute the vote. Two hundred twenty-five of the 241 nurses eligible to vote participated in the "secret-ballot" election; 13 of the votes cast were contested. The hospital said that several non-employees cast votes, and the union said that some of the nurses who voted were supervisors who were ineligible to participate in the election. Officials at Tenet Healthcare, the parent company of San Ramon Regional, said that they plan to offer the nurses an "open shop" contract to allow nurses who decide not to join the union to avoid dues and fines "if they cross the picket line during a strike" (English, Contra Costa Times, 10/12). San Ramon Regional nurses have criticized staffing at the hospital as "inadequate" and have sought improved benefits and wages (California Healthline, 9/5). According to Kim Burch, business development director for San Ramon Regional, "CNA has made a lot of promises to our employees; now they will need to deliver" (Contra Costa Times, 10/12).