Healthcare workers in three states recently approved new contracts with health systems, and employees in California, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland voted to join unions. The following hospital-union events have been reported by Becker's in July and August.
Note: This is not a comprehensive list.
1. Members of United Nurses of Children's Hospital, a union affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 1699, approved a three-year contract with Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego. The contract, which covers more than 1,600 nurses at Rady Children's, follows a two-day strike in July.
2. Members of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United approved a new labor contract with Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center in Torrance, Calif., part of the Providence system, based in Renton, Wash. The three-year deal covers more than 850 nurses.
3. Resident physicians and fellows at Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield, Calif., approved a new labor agreement with hospital management. The contract, ratified in early August, covers members of the Committee of Interns and Residents.
4. Members of National Nurses United at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital in St. Louis approved a new labor contract. The three-year agreement follows a one-day strike in September and a two-day strike in December.
5. Healthcare employees across Sharp Metropolitan Campus in San Diego voted to join SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West. The election, which took place July 16-18, covers more than 2,000 front-line workers at Sharp Memorial Hospital, Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women & Newborns, Sharp Mesa Vista Hospital, Sharp Allison deRose Rehabilitation Center, and James S. Brown Pavilion.
6. Healthcare professionals who work at Temple University Hospital-Jeanes Campus in Philadelphia voted to join the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals. The vote, completed July 9, covers 79 professionals including staff chaplains, nutritionists, medical technologists, physician assistants, registered pharmacists, clinical specialists, social workers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists and cardiopulmonary therapists.
7. Nurses at Cleveland Clinic Union Hospital in Dover, Ohio, approved a new three-year labor contract. The contract covers 200 nurses represented by the Ohio Nurses Association, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers.
8. Members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers, who went on strike twice over the past year at the Sutter Center for Psychiatry in Sacramento, Calif., approved their first labor contract. The 18-month agreement covers about 150 workers at Sutter Health's 73-bed Sacramento psychiatric hospital.
9. Physicians at ChristianaCare locations in Delaware and Maryland voted to join the Doctors Council, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. The decision marks the first attending physician union in Delaware, the first union at ChristianaCare, and the largest union of private sector physicians in the U.S., according to the Doctors Council.