Here's a great op-ed written by registered nurse and SEIU member Fredo Serrano about the free and fair election he and his coworkers had when they formed a union at Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas thirteen years ago....and why their election process experience was a "special exception to a broken rule:"
"Under current law, employers can demand an election process wherein, according to research, 91 percent of employers force employees to attend intimidating one-on-one meetings with their supervisors, and 30 percent unlawfully fire workers who support forming a union."Because of our landmark agreement with HCA, we saw none of these tactics. It was a positive experience for management, staff, and the patients whose care was never disrupted...The Employee Free Choice Act will guarantee the basic right to a free choice like I had to employees everywhere. Over the past decade as a union facility, the way decisions are made and the quality of care we provide at Sunrise has improved dramatically."
Serrano discusses why he supports passing the Employee Free Choice Act to help workers continue to grow the economy, pivoting from Wal-Mart ex-CEO Lee Scott's telling quote, "We like driving the car, and we're not going to give the steering wheel to anybody but us."
"That's how Wal-Mart Chief Executive Officer Lee Scott explained his opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act to a reporter last month."Scott and other CEOs want to continue to deny the rest of us a chance to share in the prosperity we work so hard to produce. They want to continue the same failed economy where people are working harder than ever but falling further behind; where the average family now spends more than $4,600 more each year for necessities than in 2000; where in the past year nearly a million people have lost their homes to foreclosure.
"The Employee Free Choice Act provides a non-governmental solution to help create an economy that works for everyone. It simply says that when a majority of workers choose to form a union, they are free to do so."
Read the Las Vegas Review-Journal op-ed here.
Fredo Serrano is a registered nurse and a member of the Service Employees International Union.
