Majority of Toledo Hospital Workers Petition Labor Board for Vote to Join UAW
Wolfinger was a member of a delegation of Toledo Hospital workers who traveled to Cleveland today to file union election petitions with the National Labor Relations Board. Union supporters delivered signed union cards from a majority of workers in four hospital bargaining units: nursing, technical workers, skilled maintenance workers, and support workers.
"Patient care is one of our main concerns," said Bob Duvendack, a respiratory therapist with 20 years of service at Toledo Hospital, who also made the trip to Cleveland. "A union will give us a voice at work so we can be better advocates for our patients on issues like workload, staffing, and supplies and equipment."
"We're thinking about our future," said Will Szymanski, a skilled maintenance worker with 18 years of service at Toledo Hospital. "One of the reasons a majority of people want a union now is because we're concerned about our pensions and our health care once we retire."
"The way it is now, the hospital can change our wages, our benefits or anything else whenever they want," said Linda Stockard, an environmental services worker with fifteen years of service at the hospital. "We want to have a voice in the decisions that affect our lives. With a union and a signed contract, we can work towards making our hospital better for everyone: patients, hospital workers, and our community."
Nurses, technical workers, support staff, and skilled maintenance employees at Toledo Hospital have been working to organize a union since June of 2000. Under the terms of U.S. labor law, workers have the right to a union election if one-third or more of the employees in a bargaining unit sign union authorization cards. An employer must recognize and bargain with a union if a majority of workers vote in favor of union representation.
"Union supporters are a strong majority in each of the units which filed petitions today," said UAW Vice President Elizabeth Bunn, who directs the union's Technical, Office and Professional (TOP) Department. "We expect the Labor Board to schedule an election soon, and we look forward to a successful campaign."
"I'm proud of these workers, who are standing up to say they want a union," said Lloyd Mahaffey, director of UAW Region 2B. "We will be proud to have them as part of our UAW family."
The Toledo Hospital organizing campaign follows a follows a successful effort by workers at Toledo's St. Vincent Hospital, who voted to join the UAW in October of 1999, and negotiated their first contract in October of 2000.
"We're proud of what our members accomplished at St. Vincent," said Bunn. "Our experience there shows that consumers of health care and health care workers can all benefit when a hospital has a strong union contract."
The UAW represents more than 90,000 active and retired workers in northwest Ohio, including workers at St. Vincent Hospital, DaimlerChrysler, General Motors, AP Parts, and numerous other facilities.
The UAW currently represents approximately 15,000 health care workers, including workers at St. Vincent; Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, MI; Detroit Medical Center and Henry Ford Medical Center in Detroit, MI; Janesville Medical Center in Janesville, WI; and at other hospitals, clinics and medical, dental and vision care offices throughout the United States.
SOURCE UAW