Registered nurses from St. Joseph's and St. Mary's hospitals in Tucson, Ariz., voted to join National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United.
Nurses at St. Joseph's voted to unionize Oct. 9, while nurses at St. Mary's voted to unionize Oct. 11.
NNOC/NNU will represent about 550 St. Joseph's nurses and 450 St. Mary's nurses, according to the union. The hospitals are owned by Tucson-based Carondelet Health Network, operated by Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare.
"On behalf of our members nationwide, I welcome you and want you to know that we are thrilled to have you on board," said National Nurses United Executive Director, Bonnie Castillo, RN. "We are proud of RNs at St. Joseph's and St. Mary's hospitals for taking this historic step to unite with your RN colleagues to elevate standards for patients and nurses."
Carondelet Health Network officials told the Arizona Daily Star they respect the unionization decisions and will work with nurses to reach a "mutually beneficial collective bargaining agreement."
NNOC/NNU now represents more than 6,000 RNs in California, Texas, Florida and Arizona.
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