LATHAM, N.Y., June 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- It is ironic that delegates at the Services Employees International Union (SEIU) convention are calling for a national "no raid" agreement among nurses' unions while its affiliate, 1199SEIU, is actively raiding New York State Nurses Association bargaining units.
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In a statement released by SEIU on June 4, the union's Executive Vice President Mary Kay Henry was quoted as saying, "Nurse unions should work together to win a fair process for the 85% of registered nurses in America who don't have a union -- instead of fighting over the 15% who already do."
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"SEIU pays lip service to cooperation in the labor movement while its members are telling our nurses, 'we're going to take you over,'" said Lorraine Seidel, RN, director of the NYSNA collective bargaining program. "If they really want an end to raiding, they should immediately stop their attacks on our bargaining units."
After staging an ambush at Peninsula Hospital in Queens in May, 1199SEIU operatives moved on to attempt to decertify the Nurses Association at three hospitals in the North Shore/LIJ system: Plainview, Syosset, and Franklin. It was literally a race against the clock as nurses' committees negotiated a new contract while 1199SEIU members roamed the halls urging RNs to sign petitions and cards. The new contracts were ratified, but not before 1199SEIU members arrived in carloads in an effort to disrupt the vote.
1199SEIU members are actively targeting the Nurses Association at several other facilities in the metropolitan area. The Nurses Association has not raided 1199 units; 1199's actions are in retaliation for NYSNA's opposition last year to a proposed alliance between SEIU and United American Nurses, a national union composed of state nurses' associations.
"This is old-style, brass-knuckle union politics, not the enlightened, progressive image SEIU likes to show the public," Seidel said. "It's just one more reason why professional nurses belong in a professional nurses union."
The New York State Nurses Association is the voice for nursing in the Empire State. With more than 36,000 members, it is the state's largest union and professional association for registered nurses. It supports nurses and nursing practice through education, research, legislative advocacy, and collective bargaining.
SOURCE New York State Nurses Association
