California Nurses Association to represent 200 at Manteca hospital after RNs approve union
Registered nurses at Doctors Hospital of Manteca voted 121 to 8 to join the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, the union announced last week.
CNA/NNU will now represent roughly 200 RNs at the facility, a unit of for-profit Tenet Healthcare, as they negotiate their first contract. The union already represents 5,500 registered nurses at 14 Tenet hospitals in Arizona, California and Texas.
“It’s a new day for Doctors’ nurses, patients, and our entire community,” said Kamal Kaur, a registered nurse at Doctors Hospital. “We are thrilled to join with our Tenet RN ... colleagues at other facilities who have achieved important gains and continue to work to set new standards for all Tenet RNs.”
The National Labor Relations Board conducted the mail-in ballot election.
The union said Thursday that nurses at the hospital supported the vote to unionize because they felt conditions for patient care had eroded amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As nurses we know what’s right for our patients,” said Katrina Radu, a registered nurse at the hospital. “For too long, we have gone without a proper voice in patient care standards. We have been short-staffed, unable to retain nurses, and struggling while Tenet puts profits before us and our patients over and over again. We can change that through our union, putting ourselves at the bargaining table with management as equals.”
On the hospital website, however, leaders touted a number of measures they have put in place to protect patients, including rapid testing, separate COVID care zones and rigorous daily screening of staff.
CNA/NNU leaders said they would now survey their colleagues for key issues to discuss in negotiations with hospital management and elect a nurse negotiating team.
