KRNV Channel 4, May 27, 2008 SEIU Nevada nurses filed 8 unfair labor practice charges on Tuesday against Renown Regional Medical Center.  The nurses union is accusing the hospital of  illegally looking to keep nurses from advocating for improved patient care standards. SEIU Nevada, Nevada's healthcare union, represents 9,000 nurses, hospital staff, and public health workers in Reno, Elko and the Las Vegas Region. Nurses are planning to file additional bad faith bargaining charges against the hospital later this week. SEIU Nevada members at Renown have been in contract negotiations with management since November. ... Nevada

Outcome for Saint Rose nurses still uncertain, but union unrest is clear. Tony Cook & Michael Mishak, Las Vegas Sun, May 9, 2008 The Service Employees International Union suffered a clear vote of no confidence this week as registered nurses it represents at three Saint Rose Dominican hospitals voted in greater - though still inconclusive - numbers to join a rival union. Although the California Nurses Association earned more votes - 400 (49.8 percent) to the SEIU’s 377 (46.9 percent) - in the Tuesday and Wednesday balloting, the SEIU will continue to represent 1,100 nurses at the hospitals because a victory requires more than 50 percent of the vote. ... CNA

Saint Rose Dominican Nurses Want to Join CNA/NNOC, Reject Service Employees Union by 53%. National Nurses Organizing Committee, May 8, 2008 Registered nurses at three Saint Rose Dominican hospitals in Henderson and Las Vegas early Thursday cast a strong vote to join the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee and leave behind their current representative, the Service Employees International Union Local 1107. In a three-way race, 400 RNs voted for CNA/NNOC, with 377 voting for SEIU Local 1107 and 26 opting for no union. With six challenged ballots still in dispute, a runoff may still be avoided. ... Dramatic

SEIU nurses call on CNA to stop attacks on unionized nurses. Service Employees International Union, May 8, 2008 Las Vegas - With the outcome of an election held May 6 and 7 among 1,000 nurses over union representation at three Las Vegas hospitals yet to be determined, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) nurses are renewing their call for an end to the divisive actions of the California Nurses Association. The CNA's months-long campaign of lies and false promises failed to capture enough votes to lure nurses away from SEIU. With 400 votes for CNA, 377 for SEIU, and 26 for no union, neither organization obtained the 50 percent of all votes required to win. ... SEIU

Associated Press, May 8, 2008 A close vote by nurses at three Southern Nevada hospitals has union officials disputing the outcome of a labor representation ballot. Administrators with the current bargaining unit, the Service Employees International Union, called the results of the Tuesday and Wednesday voting inconclusive. Officials with the upstart California Nurses Association say more nurses voted against the SEIU than for it. Neither side won the 50 percent plus one vote needed to claim representation of some 1,100 nurses at three Saint Rose Dominican Hospital campuses in Henderson and Las Vegas. The tally was 400 votes for the CNA, 377 for the SEIU and 26 votes for no union.

SEIU accused of using employer cash to make election materials for candidates. Jennifer Robison, Las Vegas Review-Journal, April 17, 2008 The federal government's investigation into union-election practices has put one powerful local labor union on the defensive and given a competing union ammunition for its organizing efforts. The US Department of Labor is looking into allegations that the Service Employees International Union's Local 1107 in Las Vegas used employer money to produce campaign materials for a specific set of candidates in its September election of new officials. ... Federal

Associated Press, April 16, 2008 Reno - Contract talks are resuming between nurses and administrators at Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center in Reno. Jill Furillo, a director for the California Nurses Association, says negotiations that began in January are progressing. She says the union and administrators have come to tentative agreement on about two dozen contract issues, including grievance procedures, overtime and a patient advocacy. A key issue with nurses at Saint Mary's is mandatory nurse-to-patient ratios. It is also a major issue in the negotiations between management and nurses at Renown Regional Medical Center. Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Latest in a Pattern of Service Union Corruption and Violence, Says California Nurses Assn/NNOC. California Nurses Association, April 15, 2008 Notice today that the Department of Labor is investigating a Las Vegas local of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) on charges that it "used employer funds to promote certain candidates" in a union election is the latest in a pattern of corruption and violence emanating from the top leadership of SEIU President Andy Stern and SEIU ... Federal

California group’s bid comes as national SEIU leaders fight. Tony Cook & Michael Mishak, Las Vegas Sun, April 1, 2008 A California-based nurses union is seeking to exploit a national rift in the country’s largest and fastest-growing union by poaching nurses at three local Saint Rose Dominican hospitals, according to state labor leaders and national experts. The California Nurses Association last week submitted several hundred signatures of nurses at Saint Rose who want to ditch their current union, the Service Employees International Union. The SEIU is fighting back with a complaint to the AFL–CIO accusing the CNA of violating the labor federation’s anti-raiding rules. ... Union

Petition by Saint Rose SEIU members seeks representation by rival. Michael Mishak, Las Vegas Sun, March 27, 2008 The Service Employees International Union faced an apparent revolt Wednesday as several hundred nurses at the three Saint Rose Dominican hospitals filed a petition to switch to a rival union - even as the SEIU negotiates a new contract on the nurses’ behalf. The rival California Nurses Association would not disclose the number of signatures on the election petition it filed with the National Labor Relations Board. But organizers said the number exceeded the minimum required under federal labor law ... Nurses

RNs at Saint Mary’s are hopeful a union will end the nurse exodus to
California. Molly Hofmann, Reno News & Review, December 13, 2007
“There’s no reason for disparity of care,” registered nurse Amy Barats
said. “Our patients deserve the same care in Nevada as in California.”
Barats is direct, assertive and a self-described patient advocate. Like
many nurses, she wants to help patients and contribute to her
community. Barats, a graduate student and single mother of an
8-year-old son, has worked in the emergency room at Saint Mary’s
Regional Medical Center for two years. Prior to that, she worked as an
EMT while attaining her nursing degree. ... Nurses

San Francisco Chronicle, December 8, 2007 Registered nurses at St.
Mary's Regional Medical Center in Reno have voted in favor of
representation by the California Nurses Association, the Oakland union
said Friday. The union will represent 500 registered nurses at the
hospital, a member of the Catholic Healthcare West group, based in San
Francisco. The vote count was 252 to 141, the union said. Nevada
becomes the fourth state, joining California, Illinois and Maine, where
the California Nurses Association represents registered nurses in
collective bargaining. ... Reno

Chris Rauber, East Bay Business Times, December 7, 2007 Registered
nurses at Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center in Reno voted Thursday
night to join the California Nurses Association/National Nurses
Organizing Committee, one of the nation's feistiest and fastest growing
labor unions, the Oakland-based CNA said Friday. The vote was 252 to
141 in a secret ballot election supervised by the National Labor
Relations Board, according to the CNA, which said it will begin
representing 500 nurses at the hospital, part of the San
Francisco-based Catholic Healthcare West hospital system. ... California

Nevada Breakthrough for Fastest Growing Union. California Nurses
Association, December 7, 2007 Reno - Registered nurses at Saint Mary's
Regional Medical Center in Reno Thursday night voted by over 64 percent
to join the nation's fastest growing union, the California Nurses
Association/ National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC). It was
the first victory for CNA/NNOC in Nevada - but, said CNA/NNOC Executive
Director Rose Ann DeMoro, "it will be the harbinger of more victories
to come in the state where there is a booming interest in CNA/NNOC
achievements." ... Saint

Associated Press, November 15, 2007 Las Vegas - Democratic presidential
candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton isn't waiting for a union endorsement
to show off support among nurses in Nevada. Clinton's campaign in
Nevada has released a list of 200 nurses who support the New York
senator. The list comes as the nurses union continues to deliberate on
its endorsement. The Service Employees International Union says it
represents more than 17,000 nurses and county government workers in
Nevada and could be a major player in delivering support in the state's
January 19 presidential caucus. Union leaders say each of the top three
candidates - Clinton, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama - have support on its executive board. All