Scot Allyn, Lorain Morning Journal

December 22, 2007

LORAIN -- The results of a challenged vote by workers at Community Regional Medical Center have been resolved in favor of union representation, according to Jennifer Kennedy, a spokeswoman for the hospital. On Dec. 13, five units of the hospital's non-supervisory staff voted on whether to join the Service Employees International Union, which has represented registered nurses at the hospital for about six years. Three units declined to join and one, the skilled maintenance unit, chose the SEIU to represent them.

The 417-member non-professional unit, however, had a result too close to call, Kennedy said. Union membership received 122 votes, while 123 voted against it and 10 ballots were challenged by the National Labor Relations Board, which supervised the Dec. 13 voting.

Yesterday, four of the challenged ballots were determined to be eligible for the voting while six were not, Kennedy said. The determination was mutually agreed-upon by the hospital, the SEIU and the NLRB, according to Kennedy. The NLRB could not be reached for comment.

All four of the eligible ballots were in favor of SEIU representation, yielding an official result of 126 for joining the SEIU and 123 against, Kennedy said.

Community Regional Medical Center will begin negotiating in January with the non-professional unit and the 16-member skilled maintenance unit, Kennedy said.

''We look forward to negotiating with them in good faith,'' she said.

Joyce Moscato, a spokeswoman for District 1199 of the SEIU, said she would be meeting with hospital workers in January to set specific goals for a new contract.
''We're looking forward to helping the support staff at the hospital negotiate a union contract,'' she said. ''Everyone has different reasons for forming a union, but they all want to participate in decisions on the job.''