By: DEIRDRE NEWMAN - Staff Writer

Nurses opposed to the current union representation at Inland Valley Medical Center filed a petition Friday with the National Labor Relations Board calling for another election that could oust the union.
The required 30 percent of the nurses at Inland Valley back the effort, said nurse Debbie Moss, who hand-delivered the petition to a labor board office in San Diego. There are 235 nurses at Inland Valley, said Teresa Fleege, director of marketing for Southwest Healthcare System, which runs the hospital.
The petition calls for another election to see if the Inland Valley nurses still want to be represented by the California Nurses Association. The nurses first voted to be represented by the union in 2004.
Union organizer Sean Fulkerson said a majority of nurses continue to support CNA.  "This (filing) is just a result of a nine-month, intensive, union-busting campaign by management," he said.  The petition has been put on ice by the labor board until two unfair labor practice charges filed by the union against Inland Valley last year are fully investigated, said Kelly Selvidge, supervisory examiner for the board in Los Angeles, which is handling the petition. The investigation into the two charges ---- which allege discrimination and refusal to bargain by hospital administration ---- is expected to be completed this month, she added.
Another election is necessary because many Inland Valley nurses are fed up with CNA, Moss said, reeling off a litany of complaints.  "They haven't kept their promises, they haven't gotten us raises, they're threatening our 12-hour shifts with the lawsuits they supported, they're fighting the building of the new hospital (in Temecula) that we desperately need," said Moss, a labor and delivery nurse.
Southwest Healthcare System, a subsidiary of Universal Health Services, has proposed to build another hospital, this one in Temecula. Southwest also runs Rancho Springs Medical Center in Murrieta, where there is no union representation.
Fleege, via e-mail, said the unfair labor practice charges alleged by the union are "without merit and should be dismissed.  "In any event, the nurses deserve a right to vote," she wrote. "There is nothing preventing the union from agreeing to proceed with the election. If necessary, they can resolve the charges later as they don't involve this election."
Putting the petition on hold until the investigation into the charges is complete is standard procedure that allows the board to determine whether any of the allegations in the charges influenced the petition and whether there are any unfair labor practices that need to be fixed before continuing with the petition process, Selvidge said.
The effort to decertify the union started around July, Moss said; nurses were able to legally start the process one year after certification was achieved. Of the 200-plus nurses who participated in the original election, nearly 61 percent voted to organize with the union.
Moss said she knows 30 percent of the nurses now oppose the union from both signed petitions and decertification cards that were sent to most of the nurses.
Fulkerson said it's up to the board to verify that there are, in fact, enough supporters of another vote.
"If the board certifies that they eked out 30 percent, we're still confident we'll win another election by a solid majority," he said.
In regard to the charges filed with the board, Fulkerson said the discrimination complaint alleges hospital administrators did not give pay increases to Inland Valley nurses in an effort to make them angry with the union.
The other charge alleges that administrators would not bargain in good faith, including refusing to guarantee raises to all the nurses, he said.
This lack of a guarantee "is just not acceptable," he said.
"You can't recruit and retain qualified staff, and this has had, and will continue to have, an adverse impact on patient care if they don't do something to start recruiting nurses," he said.
Fleege said that the two sides continue to disagree over various issues, including wages and whether nurses should be required to pay dues. The next, and last scheduled bargaining session, is set for Jan. 19, she said.

Source:  nctimes.com and californian.com