On November 1st, a group of 600 workers at St. Charles
Medical Center in Bend, OR voted to decertify SEIU Local 49. The hospital is
Central Oregon’s largest employer.
Here’s an excerpt from an article
entitled “St. Charles-Bend Service Workers Oust Union:”
Nearly two years after voting in a union, and after numerous bargaining sessions failed to reach an initial contract, service workers at St. Charles Medical Center-Bend voted Thursday to end their Service Employees International Union representation.The decertification vote was 334-212, a far wider margin then the one by which the SEIU representation was approved in early 2011.
Two years ago, when workers voted to join SEIU, it was Oregon’s
biggest private-sector union win in years. Now, last week's vote means the workers will now be non-union.
Meanwhile, on October 26th, St. Charles’s 670 RNs
ratified a three-year contract. Multiple media outlets covered the election
news, including the Associated
Press.
