The National Labor Relations Board has certified the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United as the union representative for 1,200 registered nurses at Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente's flagship Southern California hospital, the Los Angeles Medical Center.
Here are three things to know about the ruling.
1. The ruling comes about one week after nearly 70 percent of LAMC nurses voted to join CNA, according to the union. Nearly 90 percent of the LAMC RNs voted in the secret ballot election conducted by the NLRB, the federal agency that oversees private sector labor relations.
2. CNA now represents 20,200 Kaiser Permanente nurses and a total of nearly 90,000 RNs in California, according to a San Francisco Business Times report.
3. The next step is for the RNs to elect a team of colleagues to represent them in immediate contract talks with Kaiser officials. Kaiser, in a statement to the San Francisco Business Times last month, said it expected the NLRB to certify CNA's win and "looks forward to working with CNA to reach a fair and equitable contract" at the Los Angeles hospital.
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