Vote counts released for elections at Ohio health care facilities

SEIU wins four and loses 39 units, with one unit in doubt
Employees at more than a dozen hospitals and long-term care facilities in the Cincinnati area voted in NLRB-conducted elections throughout the day Thursday on the question of whether or not to join the Service Employees International Union. In all, the elections took in 44 units of professional and non-professional employees, with nearly 6,600 eligible voters. All facilities are owned by Catholic Healthcare Partners.
Preliminary results released today show that the majority of employee units rejected union representation. The four units voting in favor of joining the union were: nonprofessional employees at Springfield Regional Medical Center (509 total employees); non-professional employees at Mercy Memorial Hospital Urbana (27 total employees); technical employees at Mercy Memorial Hospital Urbana (28 total employees); employees at Mercy McAuley Center (108 total).
The one unit still in doubt is RNs at Mercy Memorial Hospital Urbana (35 total), where there were 12 votes in favor, 12 votes against, with one challenged ballot. A tie goes against the union, as a majority vote is required.
The election process was a cooperative one in which the hospital chain and the union agreed not to campaign against each other. The only materials distributed to employees were jointly-created materials explaining the election process. The election was requested by the employer under an RM Election Petition, which was filed on January 17.
The National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency vested with the power to safeguard employees’ rights to organize and to determine whether to have unions as their bargaining representative. The agency also acts to prevent and remedy unfair labor practices committed by private sector employers and unions.