It is clear from the election results that when there is no employer interference, workers will choose a union to benefit their families and their communities. The agreement between SEIU and Sunrise Medical Center earlier this year provided that management would remain completely silent during the organizing campaign and would not retaliate against employees who supported the union. The agreement also provided Sunrise employees with reasonable access to union representatives inside the hospital, at entrances to the hospital, and in outdoor areas. Sunrise agreed to bargain promptly and in good faith if workers elected to form a union. This is significant because in at least one-third of all union representation elections where workers choose the union, they never get a first contract.
Employers refuse to bargain, employ legal maneuvers, or use other stalling tactics.
A group of about 150 other professionals declined to vote for the union. As shown in Las Vegas and other recent organizing victories at hospitals in Iowa, California, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York, hospital workers in America increasingly are reacting to changes and cost-cutting in the industry by joining SEIU, the nation's largest health care union. In Las Vegas, SEIU Local 1107 also represents health care workers at University Medical Center and registered nurses at Desert Springs Hospital. With this win, SEIU represents a majority of hospital workers in Las Vegas. The workers at Sunrise, like most hospital workers that organize a union, want an organization with the strength to work with management for quality patient care and quality jobs.