By Mary O’KEEFE

On Jan. 30 and Jan. 31, members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) United Healthcare Workers West (UHW) at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital will be voting to decide if they want to continue to stay with their union or to leave, i.e. decertify.

At present, members of the SEIU-UHW, which includes certified nursing assistants, lab technicians, and physical therapists, are in contract negotiations with USC-VHH. Their three-year contract was agreed to in January 2016 and will end on Jan. 31, 2019.

If members decide to decertify SEIU-UHW, they will be without a contract. If members vote to stay in the union they will continue under their present contract while negotiations continue with USC-VHH administrators, said Sean Wherley, SEIU spokesman.

Andrew Brown, a surgical buyer with USC-VHH, filed a petition seeking a decertification election among union employees, according to the National Labor Relations Board. Brown first petitioned on Oct. 5, 2018; however, a regional director dismissed the petition as “untimely filed.”

The contract negotiations are in process at USC-VHH. According to Carlos Martinez, a certified nursing assistant at USC-VHH, workers’ concerns include that the administration at VHH is not bargaining in good faith. Martinez said workers had presented proposals at the beginning of negotiations, but management has not responded. Negotiations began in November, he said.

“Staffing, wages and improvement in quality of care,” Martinez listed as what members are looking for in a new contract. “[Negotiations] have mostly been behind closed doors with no answer on any proposal. The [administrators] are dragging their feet.”

He added the concerns of the SEIU-UHW members are similar to those brought up by the California Nurses Association (CNA) representing registered nurses during their contract negotiations that ended in December 2016.

Martinez said staff was an issue then as it is now. “Travelers,” nurses or other employees who travel from one hospital to another and work normally as temporary staff members, are a concern for Martinez, as it was for the RNs earlier. He added consistency in care is important to patients.

Another concern is healthcare for SEIU-UHW members.

“We are looking for better healthcare benefits. Right now [USC-VHH] only offers a PPO. We are hoping to have an HMO offer, which is a low-cost option,” Martinez said.

A Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) allows members to choose from a specific group of doctors and hospitals within their network. A Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) is more flexible for patients allowing them to choose their doctors or a hospital. Traditionally PPO coverage is a more expensive type of insurance.

As far as the vote concerning the fate of the union, Martinez is in favor of continuing with SEIU-UHW but he understands that others feel differently.

“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion,” he said.

  Mary Okeefe