Federal Charges Filed Against Community Medical Centers Management
(This article is a slightly modified version of a Press Release sent out by the PR Newswire Association in New York. Changes to the original made by Mike Rhodes, editor of the Community Alliance newspaper)

Healthcare workers who are forming a union at Community Medical Centers filed a series of charges against management yesterday over ongoing violations of labor law. Workers and community leaders have attempted to meet with management to discuss a Free and Fair Election Agreement – an enforceable code of conduct for a secret ballot election that would protect workers’ right to choose for themselves whether to form a union. Management has not responded to workers, and has instead used valuable patient care dollars to hire anti-union consultants.

The anti-union campaign gave workers no choice but to file Unfair Labor Practice charges against CMC, the local private nonprofit corporation. The charges include coercion, intimidation and illegal surveillance of pro-union employees.

Workers attended a public hearing of the Fresno Fair Election Commission last night and documented concerns related to management’s violations of federal law and explained why they need a free and fair election agreement with the hospital.

“We want a constructive relationship with management so we can fix our short-staffing levels, low morale and high turnover,” said Lydia Martinez, a licensed vocational nurse in the Children’s Health Center. “We’d rather be talking to management than filing charges to protect our rights. But we’ve got to protect ourselves and our patients.”

Workers presented specific information about mistreatment in the workplace at the hearing. “All we’re after is respect,” said Vic Benocomo, a radiology technician at Community Regional Medical Center. “We need a Free and Fair Election Agreement to protect our rights.”

About 200 people attended the hearing which was held at the College Community Congregational Church in Fresno.

The 145,000-member SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West is the largest hospital and healthcare union in the western United States and represents every type of healthcare worker, including nurses, professional, technical and service classifications.

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