Dramatic Las Vegas Vote by RNs ...( St. Rose Dominican Nurses Want to Jo...),Health

St. Rose Dominican Nurses Want to Join CNA/NNOC, Reject Service Employees

Union by 53%

LAS VEGAS, May 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Registered nurses at three St. 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.

But with 53 percent of the RNs voting to reject Local 1107, CNA/NNOC leaders today called on SEIU to withdraw. The election, conducted by the National Labor Relations Board, affects 1,100 RNs at the Siena and Rose de Lima campuses in Henderson and the San Martin facility in Las Vegas.

"St. Rose Dominican RNs have made it clear that they want a change," said Zenei Cortez, RN, member of the CNA/NNOC Council of Presidents. "They want and deserve a more effective voice to advocate for their patients and to achieve the standards they have seen won by their colleagues in CNA/NNOC."

"The nurses have spoken and SEIU should respect their decision," said Cortez. "SEIU should step aside and allow the St. Rose Dominican RNs to negotiate improved pay, pensions and medical benefits without further delay."

The RNs voting to leave SEIU Local 1107 said they were tired of substandard representation and an inferior contract, and wished to be a part of CNA/NNOC, the nation's largest organization of RNs, and its track record of landmark achievements for nurses and patient protections.

St. Rose Dominican RNs also called the vote an emphatic repudiation of a union with all the advantages and record of incumbency, and a clear indication that SEIU's time is up.

"We want to take our union back," said Mel
'/>"/>