Providence St. Joseph Nurses Hold Rally Protesting Administrators’ Alleged Efforts To Block Unionization

Registered nurses at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank yesterday rallied in front of the hospital, claiming the facility's administrators are trying to "prevent them from organizing by delaying the certification of union election results," the Los Angeles Times reports. A majority of the facility's registered nurses voted on Sept. 27 and Sept. 28 to join the Service Employees International Union, according to Luisa Blue, president of the union's Nurse Alliance of Southern California. The nurses say that hospital administrators engaged in voter intimidation and have filed "frivolous" challenges questioning the voting eligibility of some nurses. Providence St. Joseph officials say that they have not tried to delay certification of the results. The issue will now move to the National Labor Relations Board for consideration. The rally was attended by television actors Mike Farrell, best known for his roles on "M*A*S*H" and "Providence," and Ellen Crawford of the television drama "ER" (Haynes/Ornstein, Los Angeles Times, 10/17).